CIHM 
Microfiche 


(IMonographs) 


ICIMH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


Canadian  Inatituta  for  Hiatorical  Microraproductiona  /  Inatitut  Canadian  da  microraproductiona  hiatoriquaa 


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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 

r~^  Coloured  covers  / 
I — I  Couverture  de  couleur 

□  Covers  damaged  / 
Couverture  endommag^e 

□   Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  pellicul^e 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

I Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 

I — I   Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 


21 
D 
D 

n 


Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material  / 
Reli^  avec  d'autres  documents 


D 


D 


Only  edition  available  / 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion  along 
interior  margin  /  La  reliure  serr^e  peut  causer  de 
I'ombre  ou  de  la  distor;:ion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have  been 
omitted  from  filming  /  II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages 
blanches  ajout^es  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  ^tait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  i\6  film^es. 

Additional  comments  / 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires: 


Thit  item  la  filmtd  at  the  reduction  ratio  chtckad  btlow  / 

Ca  documant  aat  Ufmi  au  laux  da  reduction  lndlqu<  el-daiaout. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
6ti  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  cet  exem- 
plaire qui  sont  peut-§tre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modification  dans  la  m^tho- 
de  normale  de  filmage  sont  indiquSs  ci-dessous. 

J  Coloured  pages  /  Pages  de  couleur 

I I  Pages  damaged  /  Pages  endommag§es 


D 


Pages  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  peliiculSes 


I     V  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed  / 
I  n/I  Pages  d^color^es,  tachetdes  ou  piqu^es 

I         Pages  detached  /  Pages  d6tach6es 

I  \A  Shovilhrough  /  Transparence 

I      I   Quality  of  print  varies  / 


D 
D 


D 


Quality  in^gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material  / 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  totalement  ou 
partiellement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une 
pelure,  etc.,  ont  6\6  film^es  k  nouveau  de  fa9on  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 

Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discolourations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant  ayant  des 
colorations  variables  ou  des  decolorations  sont 
film^es  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la  meilleure  image 
possible. 


lOx 

14x 

18x 

22x 

26x 

30x 

J 

12x 

16x 

20x 

24  x 

28x 

32x 

The  copy  filmed  h«r«  has  bMO  reproduced  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'axampiaira  film*  fut  raproduit  grica  i  la 
ginirosit*  da: 

Bibliotheque  nationale  du  Canada 


Tha  imagas  appearing  hare  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  end  legibility 
of  the  orlginel  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specif icetions. 


Les  imagas  suivantas  ont  M  reproduites  avec  Is 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  la  nettet*  de  I'exemplaira  filmi,  et  en 
eonformit*  avec  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  pepar  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustreted  impree- 
sion.  or  the  back  cover  when  appropriete.  All 
other  originel  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  lest  pege  with  e  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  freme  on  eech  microfiche 
shell  contain  the  symbol  — »  (meening  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  Imeening  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  retios.  Those  too  lerge  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bonom.  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diegrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  exempleires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
pepier  est  imprimOe  sent  film^s  en  commencant 
per  le  premier  plot  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darni^re  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  la  caa.  Tous  las  autras  exempleires 
origineux  sont  filmte  en  commen^ent  par  la 
premiere  pege  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustretion  et  en  terminant  par 
la  darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
omprainta. 

Un  das  symbolas  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
darniire  imege  da  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  symbols  — »  signifie  "A  SUIVRE '.  le 
symbolo  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartaa.  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  etre 
film«s  i  des  Uux  do  reduction  diff*rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grsnd  pour  stre 
reproduit  en  un  soul  clichO.  il  est  films  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  *  droite, 
et  de  haut  an  baa.  an  pranant  la  nombre 
d'imegea  n«cassaira.  Lea  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrant  le  mOthode. 


1  2  3 


MicRocoirr  resolution  test  chart 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No    2) 


I.I 


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2.5 
2.2 

1.8 


A     /APPLIED  INA^GE 


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(7 '6)   »82  -  0300  -  Phone 

('16)  Jfl8  ~  5989  -  fa. 


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ECONOMIC   BEGINNINGS   OF  THE 
FAB  WEST 

VOLUME  II 


r" 


■y^y^ 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
DALLAS  •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


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/2i2 


ECONOMIC    BEGINNINGS 
OF  THE  FAR  WEST 


HOW   WE  WON   THE   LAND 
BEYOND    THE    MISSISSIPPI 


BY 


KATHARINE   COMAN 

AUTHOR   OF 
"  THK  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  " 


VOLUME    II 
AMERICAN    SETTLERS 


1llU9trateD 


Netu  ^otk 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1912 


fTT)rffiasa'aF^^*^»»*     v,'     •s.-^^mim9i^Bm;s^^^^:i^i£igmgm^nr!m 


COPTRIOHT,    1912, 

By  the  macmillan  company. 

Set  up  and  etectrotyped.    Published  October,  1911. 


KottBoob  Tfin* 

,1.  9.  OiiBhlm  Cii.  —  Hcrwirk  *  Hmlth  Co, 

Jiorwmnl,  M*t*>,  U.S.A. 


m 


CONTENTS 

VOLUME  II 

PART   III.     THE   ADVANCE   OF  THE 
SETTLERS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAUE 

Louisiana 3-26 

CHAPTER  II 

Missouri  Tkrkitoky 27-74 

Missouri  River  Settlementn       ......      35 

Iowa <J6 

Thomas  H.  Benton 69 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Santa  Fe  Trade 75-93 

New  Mexico 88 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Colonization  ok  Texas 94-109 


PART   IV.     THE   TRANSCONTINENTAL 
MKiRATION 

CHAPTER  I 

The  Acquisition  of  Oreoon 113-166 

Section  I.    The  Traders 113 

Section  H.     The  Missionaries 133 

Seetiuli  III.      Dr.  McLoui;lili:i  itr^  Cululiiiuf       .  .  .      !  13 

Section  IV.     American  Emiprants 154 

Section  V.    Congressionul  Iiiterveuiiou  ....     161 

V 


#• 


Jt?'"M"?l^ 


VI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Mormon  Migration 
The  Mormons  in  California 

CHAPTER  III 

TuE  Conquest  of  California 

Section  I.     Traders  and  Trapj^ers 

Section  11.     RivalJ'owers 

Section  III.     The  Advent  of  the  Emi^ral.ts 

Section  IV.     The  Acquisition  of  Ne.vM;!' 
for  ma 

Section  V.    The  Land  Question       '        " 
Section  VI.    The  Age  of  Gold  .        "        ' 

SectionVir.     Financial  Depression' and'the 
iNornial  Industries 

Agriculture  .         .  '         '         " 

Manufactures 
Section  VIII.     The  Labor' Supply     [         ] 


PAGE 

167-206 
.    203 


.     2 

07-319 

• 

.    207 

• 

.     221 

■0  and  Call 

.    227 

• 

241 

• 

213 

Revival  of 

255 

• 

284 

• 

291 

• 

307 

314 

PART   V.     KREE    LAND   AND    KREE   LABOR 
CHAPTER  I 


The  CiTRsE  of  Slavery 


CHAPTER   II 

SlAVEUY    IN    THE    TeriuTOKIFs 

■^'■ction  I.     Popular  Soven.i.r„(v 
Section  II.     The  "WakarusaVar 


<'nAPTER    III 

'i'lIK     »  . I  TORY   OF    THE    \u|(ril 

The  Railroad  to  the  PacwHc 

The  Homestead  Act  .        .  ' 


323-331 


332-352 
.  335 
.  347 


353-3(i5 

.  .!.■,;{ 
.  301 


'to:  3teif»ji.'.^a.j^ 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOLUME  II 

The  Ferry  at  Council  Bluffs    . 

Liuforth,  Route  from  Liverpool. 


A  Miner's  Rocker  in  1848 

Simpson,  Three  Weeks  in  the  Gohl  Mines. 
French  Louisiana  in  18():J 
Acadia 

Photographs  by  the  Author. 
Flatboats  on  the  Mississippi 

?.laximilien,  Prince  of  Wied,  Atlas, 
Settlements  in  Upper  Louisiana 

The  Long  Expedition. 
Difficulties  of  Navigation  on  the  Missouri 

Maximilien,  Prince  of  Wied,  Atlas. 
St.  Louis  in  18.55 

Linforth,  Route  from  Lirerpool. 
The  Santa  Fe  Tiail 

Gregg,  Commerce  of  the  Prairies. 
Arrival  of  the  Caravan  at  Santa  Fe 
Mexican  Arrieros 

Gregg,  Commerce  of  the  Prairies. 
Beaver  Dams  on  Salt  Rivf.r,  Arizona 

Photographs  by  Dane  Coolidge. 
Texas  in  1840  —  Map  of  Land  (Jrants     . 

Stiff,  Texas  Emigrant. 
Fort  Vancouver  in  LstO    .... 

Photograph  furnished  by  G.  W.  Ilimes. 
Oregon  Settlements  in  IS  14 

L>'t'  and  Frost,  Ten  Years  in  Oregon. 
IhdejMnuleiiCP  Rock 

Liu  forth.  Rniitc  /mm  Liverpool. 

v'i 


Frontispiece 


PAGK 

o 


facing  16 

"  22 

.  37 

facing  62 

"  62 

.  79 


facing      86 

86 

00 
.      97 

facing     120 

.     1.37 

"         156 


;i 


VIU 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Crossing  of  the  Platte  River 

Stansbury,  Expedition  to  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Emigrant  Roads  in  1859 

Marcy,  The  Prairie  Traveller, 

First  View  of  Great  Salt  Lake         .... 
Stansbury,  Expedition  to  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Emigration  Canon 

The  Wasatch  Range 

Photographs  by  the  Author. 

Salt  Lake  City  in  1819 

Stansbury,  Expedition  to  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Salt  Lake  City  in  18,13 

Linforth,  Route  from  Liverpool. 

Gathering  to  Zion 

Stenhou.se,  Tell  it  All. 

The  Handcart  Brigade 

St^nhouse,  Rocky  Mountain  Saints. 

Stakes  planted  in  Zion 

Wagon  Routes  across  the  Wasatch  Range 

Stansbury,  Expedition  to  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Adobe  Houses  at  Spanish  Fork  and  Provo,  Utah    . 
Photographs  furnished  by  Jennie  M.  Cheever 

Hudson's  Bay  Company's  Trail  to  California 
Sutter's  Fort  and  Sawmill  in  1849   . 

Upham,  Scenes  from  El  Dorado. 
San  Franci.sco  Bay  in  1811 

Duflot  de  Mofras. 
So\.theru  Emigrant  Routes  to  California 

Bartlett,  Mexican  llounttarij  Commission 
Wagon  Routes  across  the  Sierran     . 

Simp.Hon,  Erplnrations. 

Pass  in  the  Sierra  Nevada 

Fremont,  Second  E rpedition. 

Routes  to  California,  1858 

Seyd,  Resources  of  California. 
The  Northern  Mines         .... 
The  Southern  Mines        .... 


PAoa 
facing    156 


.     157 

facing    172 

176 
"        176 

«*        178 

«        178 

182 

«        182 


188 
190 


facing  202 

.  209 

facing  216 

"  226 

.  230 

.  233 

facing  246 

.  261 


265 

267 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Gold  Washing  in  New  Mexico         ....       facing 
Gr3gg,  Commerce  of  the  Prairies. 

Quartz  Mining 

Seyd,  Resources  of  California. 

San  Francis  ^o  in  1819 

Uphani,  Scenes  from  El  Dorado. 

San  Francisco  in  18.57 

Seyd,  Cnlifornia  and  its  Resources. 
Mining  with  Pan  and  Long  Tom     .... 

I'phani,  Scenes  from  El  Dorado. 

Hydraulic  Mining 

Seyd,  California  and  its  Resources. 

Harvesting  Wheat  in  the  Sacraniento  Valley  .  " 

Photograph  by  Dane  Coolidge. 
Cotton  Plantation  under  the  Slave  Regime     .         .  " 

Photographs  furnished  by  Charlotte  R.  Thome. 
The  Kansas  Settlements,  1  H'l.") 

Boyntou  and  Mason,  Kansas. 


IX 

rAi;K 

271 

282 

290 

290 

298 

298 

310 

326 

342 


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PART   III 
THE  ADVANCE  OF  THE    SETTLERS 


A,  Miner's  Rocker  in  1848 


■« 


ECONOMIC  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FAR 

WEST 

CHAPTER  I 


LOUISIANA 

The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  Territory  got  rid 
of  some  long-standing  difficulties  and  opened  to 
American  enterprise  vast  possibilities  of  extension. 
Both  banks  of  the  Mississippi  were  now  controlled 
by  the  United  States,  and  the  free  navigation  of 
that  great  waterway  was  assured  for  all  time.  Not 
only  the  Father  of  Waters,  but  his  western  tribu- 
taries, the  Missouri,  the  Platte,  the  *  Kansas  and 
Red  rivers,  were  brought  within  reach  our  restless 
frontiersmen,  and  they  made  haste  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  outlet  for  their  energy.  In  the  Account 
of  Louisiana,  compiled  at  the  suggestion  of  President 
Jefferson  in  1803  and  widely  distributed  throughout 
the  country,  there  was  gathered  for  the  information 
of  the  curious  all  that  was  then  known  of  the  popu- 
lation and  resources  of  the  new  acquisition.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Spanish  census  of  1799,  there  were  in 
the  settlements  along  the  Mississippi  and  Red  rivers 
forty-two  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy-five 
souls,  of  whom  two-thirds  were  whites  and  one-third 
slaves  or  freedmen.  New  Orleans  was  a  town  of  ten 
thousand  inhabitants,  where  four-fifths  of  the  whites 
were  French  Creoles  and  the  remainder  EngUsh  and 
Americans.    The  people  of  Baton  Rouge,  Iberville, 

3 


4  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

and  Point  Couple  were  the  Acadians  banished  from 
Nova  Scotia  by  the  British  government.  The  villages 
on  Red  River  — Avoyelles,  Rapide,  Natchitoches  — 
were  settled  by  descendants  of  the  original  French. 
So,  too,  was  the  Post  aux  Arkansas  and  Ouichita  on 


French  Louisiana  in  1S04. 

Black  River.  In  Spanish  Illinois  or  Upper  Louisi- 
ana, along  the  great  river  that  furnished  the  only 
practicable  highway,  were  a  dozen  flourishing  set- 
tlements —  Petite  Prairie,  Ste.  Genevieve,  New 
Madrid,  Cape  Girardeau,  Carondelet,  St.  Louis,  St. 
Charles,  St.  Andre  —  where  were  gathered  a  total 


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LOUISIANA  5 

of  six  thousand  people,  of  whom  not  more  than  one- 
sixth  were  blacks.  St.  Louis  was  still  a  mere  trading 
post  with  nine  hundred  and  twenty-five  inhabitants, 
of  whom  one-third  were  slaves.  St.  Charles  and  Ste. 
Genevieve,  being  farming  ccmmunities,  had  a  larger 
proportion  of  whites.  Here  the  habitants  driven  from 
Illinois  by  the  American  occupation  were  maintain- 
ing existence  by  means  of  an  indolent  agriculture 
varied  by  hunting  and  fishing.  At  St.  Andre,  Mc- 
Kay's bailiwick,  some  thirty  families  from  Kentucky 
were  cultivating  the  soil  in  a  fashion  that  put  their 
French  neighbors  to  shame.  Years  before  the  an- 
nexation, pioneers  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
had  begun  -noving  across  the  river,  until,  in  1803, 
"  at  least  t  o-fifths  if  not  a  greater  proportion  of 
all  settlers  on  the  Spanish  side  of  the  Mississippi,  in 
the  Illinois  country,  are  .  .  .  supposed  to  be  Ameri- 
cans." ^ 

The  products  of  the  rich  lands  along  the  lower 
Mississippi  were  sugar,^  molasses,  cotton,  and  indigo  ; 
those  of  Upper  Louisiana,  peltry,  lumber,  lead,  horses, 
and  cattle.  The  annual  value  of  the  cotton  exported 
was  estimated  at  §1,344,000,  that  of  sugar  at  8302,400, 
molasses  at  $32,000,  peltry  at  $200,000,  lumber  at 
880,000.  "The  peltry  procured  in  the  Illinois  is  the 
best  sent  to  the  Atlantic  market ;  and  the  quantity 
is  very  considerable.  Lead  is  to  be  had  with  ease, 
and  in  such  quantities  as  to  supply  all  Europe,  if  the 
population  were  sufficient  to  work  the  numerous 
mines  to  be  found  within  two  or  three  feet  from  the 
surface  in  various  parts  of  the  country."  '  For  a 
considerable  distance  back  from  the  river,  the  land 


t»Tcsjarww3ESP«f"t-jE«^r«  »  eswT 


6 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


was  extraordinarily  productive  and  was  covered  with 
valuable  timber.  "It  may  be  said  with  truth  that, 
for  fertility  of  soil,  no  part  of  the  world  exceeds  the 
borders  of  the  Mississippi ;  the  land  yields  an  abun- 
dance of  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  almost  spon- 
taneously; very  little  labor  being  required  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  earth.  That  part  of  Upper  Louisi- 
ana, which  borders  on  North  Mexico,  is  one  immense 
prairie ;  it  produces  nothing  but  grass ;  it  is  filled 
with  buffalo,  deer,  and  other  kinds  of  game ;  the  land 
is  represented  as  too  rich  for  the  growth  of  forest 
trees."  " 

Jefferson's  Account  was  corroborated  by  a  letter 
written  under  date  of  August  15,  1803,  by  Dr.  John 
Sibley  and  printed  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina, 
soon  after.  Dr.  Sibley  was  a  Carolinian  v/ho  had 
settled  at  Natchez  in  1802  and  obtained  permission 
of  the  Spanish  authorities  to  trav^el  in  Louisiana. 
"Travelling  up  the  Mississippi  some  months  ago,  I 
took  pains  to  ascertain  the  number  of  sugar  planta- 
tions, and  the  average  quantity  of  sugar  made  an- 
nudly  in  each.  I  found  14  below  New  Orleans,  and 
64  above,  in  all  78;  and  they  average  annually  aVxmt 
75,000  pounds'  weight  of  sugar,  besides  a  proportion- 
able quantity  of  rum  and  molasses."  Tiie  alluvial 
lands  for  sixty  miles  above  New  Orleans  and  for  sixty 
miles  below  that  town,  togctlior  with  Tcrre  Hoeuf, 
the  bayou  St.  John,  the  bayou  La  Fuussee,  and 
Tuckepa,  were  e(iually  well  adapted  to  the  growing  of 
cane,  and  miglit,  he  estimated,  afford  place  for  one 
tliousand  Dlantations.  "Tb.e  Liiids  fvov.i  the  p«l";e  >M 
the  river  back,  grailually  fall  till  they  become  too  low 


LOUISIANA 


to  cultivate;  it  never  can  admit  of  but  one  row  of 
settlements.  These  plantations  are  interchange- 
ably planted  in  sugar  cane,  rice,  corn  and  cotton. 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  luxuriancy  of  their  crops." 
The  coast  lands  were  equally  fertile.  "The  popula- 
tion of  this  district  is  965  families ;  they  have  large 
stocks  of  very  large-sized  cattle,  make  considerable 
sugar  and  cotton  for  exportation."  To  the  north 
between  the  coast  and  the  Red  River  lay  Appalusa, 
"a  high,  rich  and  beautiful  country,  skirted  with 
clumps  of  flourishing  trees,  and  interspersed  with  fine 
rich  prairies,^  which  produce  corn  and  cotton  in  great 
perfection.  But  the  immense  flocks  of  cattle*  with 
which  they  are  covered,  are  almost  incredible;  ten 
thousand  head  may  be  seen  in  one  view."  The  upper 
country  was  no  less  promising.  "The  lantls  of  Red 
River  alone  are  capable  of  producing  more  tobacco 
than  is  now  made  in  all  the  United  States,  and  at  less 
than  one  fourth  part  of  the  labour ;  and  in  all  Loui- 
siana, I  think  more  than  ten  times  as  nmch  cotton 
might  be  made  as  in  the  United  States.  The  extreme 
fertility  of  this  country,  the  vast  quantities  of  flour, 
beef,  pork,  tobacco,  sugar,  etc.,  which  it  would  yiold, 
with  the  productions  of  its  mines,  inde[)ondoiil  of  tlie 
disposal  of  vast  quantities  of  vacant  lands  under  no 
claims,  render  the  accjuisition  of  it  to  the  United 
States  of  importance  almost  exceeding  calculation."  ' 
Hardly  had  the  Account  of  Louisiana  left  the  press 
when  a  survey  of  the  less  known  portions  of  the 
new  territory  was  inaugurated  by  a  congressional 
appropriation  for  the  exploration  i;f  \he  lla]  and 
Arkansas   rivers.     The    definition    of  the  boundarv 


if 


8 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


between  Louisiana  and  the  Spanish  dominions  and  the 
investigation  of  the  resources  of  the  arid  plains  that 
lay  beyond  the  settlements,  where  were  said  to  be 
herds  of  cattle  and  horses,  salines  without  number  and 
mines  of  silver  and  gold,  seemed  to  warrant  such  an 
enterprise.    In  the  same  message  in  which  he  an- 
nounced Lewis  and  Clark's  achievements  to  Congress 
(February   19,    1806),   Jefferson  communicated    the 
results  of  this  less  brilliant  but  no  less  significant  ex- 
ploration.    Dr.  John  Sibley  had  been  commissioned 
to  ascend  the  Red  River,  while  William  Dunbar  and 
George  H;. iter  were  sent  up  its  principal  tributary, 
the  Washita.* 

In  an  open  boat,  accompanied  by  a  French  half- 
breed,  Francis  Grappe,  Dr.  Sibley  pushed  up  the  Red 
River  to  Natchitoches,  the  old  French  settlement, 
and  seventy  miles  beyond  to  near  the  present  site  of 
Shreveport.     All  along  the  right  or  north  bank  he 
found  American  settlers,  developing  cotton  farms. 
There  were  two  French  towns  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  river,  Izavial,  with  two  hundred  and  ninety-six 
families,  and  Rapide,  with  one  hundred.     The  land 
was  very  rich  and  bore  heavy  crops  of  corn  and  cot- 
ton.    "It  is  perfectly  level,  resembling  a  river  bed, 
the  soil  twenty  feet  deep,  and  like  a  bed  of  manure." 
"It  is  impossible  to  conceive  (•<"  more  beautiful  fields 
and  plantations,  or  more  luxuriant  crops  of  corn,  cot- 
ton and  tobacco."  Sibley  (u'scribod  tli(>  country  below 
Natchitoches  as  tlierichost  he  luul  ever  seen.     "The 
low  grounds  of  Rvd  River  are  goniTally  five  or  six 
miles  wide,  and   no  soil   can  he  riclier.  and  no.'irlv 
ail  alike ;    c(»nsiderable  part  of  which  is  overflowed 


•■*» 


LOUISIANA 


9 


annually  in  the  month  of  April;    but  it  continues 
up  but  a  short  time,  and  always  falls  in  time  to 
plant  corn  and  tobacco,  and  rises  no  more  till  the 
same  time  the  next  year.     Ther3  are  fields  that 
from  the  best  account  I   can  obtain,   have  been 
planted  successively  for  near  one  hundred  years  in 
corn  or  tobacco,  and  never  known  to  fail  in  produc- 
ing plentiful  crops,  nor  is  the  soil  apparently  in  the 
leasi   exhausted.    It   is   particularly   favorable   for 
tobacco,  which  grows  remarkably  luxuriant,  and  has 
a  very  fine  flavor.    The  soil  has  a  saline  impregna- 
tion, which  imparts  something  of  it  to  the  tobacco. 
The  well  and  river  water  is  somewhat  brackish.     I 
am  convinced  that  one  hand  here  can  make  as  much 
tobacco  in  a  season  as  four  or  five  on  the  best  lands 
in  Virginia  or  North  Carolina.     It  is  t.     le  without 
any  hills  being  raised,  and  grows  so  thicxv  (from  the 
strength  and  warmth  of  the  soil)  that  they  usually 
cut  it  three  times.     When  prepared  for  market,  it 
is  stemmed  and  made  into  twists  of  five  pounds 
each.     From  eighty  to  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn 
can  be  made  to  the  acre.     Cotton  produces  equally 
well.     The  gardens  on  the  natural  soil   (for  they 
cannot  he  made  richsijr  with  manure)  are  not  less 
asionishing  or  extraordinary.     I  have  particularly 
observed  tho  very  great  height  to  which  the  artichoke 
grows;    they   are   usually   ten    feet    and    very   fre- 
quently twelve  and  fifteen  feet  high."" 

At  Baker's  Landing,  a  niingled  population  of 
I'rench,  Irish,  and  Americans  were  cultivating  the 
prairie  i„  com  and  cotton,  wliile  their  hogs  and 
oattl(>    found    abundant    food   in   the   oak    forest. 


(f! 


10  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

Wheat  would  thrive  in  the  fertile  soil,  but  it  was 
not  grown  because  there  were  no  mills  for  grinding 
flour.  Large  plantations  were  also  in  evidence  where 
corn,  cotton,  and  tobacco  were  raised  for  sale,  and 
at  Lac  T^Ioir  were  salt-works  where  two  crippled 
old  men  with  a  dozen  pots  and  kettles  made  six 
bushels  of  salt  per  day,  enough  to  supply  the  whole 
region.  Saline  springs  were  abundant,  and  a  Cap- 
tain Burnett  had  brought  negro  slaves  up  the  river, 
meaning  to  exploit  this  industry. 

Dr.  Sibley  turned  back  far  short  of  the  source  of 
Red  River,  but  from  a  Frenchman,  Brevel,  who  had 
been  bred  among  the  Pamis,  he  learned   that  the 
upper  river  was  not  navigable.     The  Indians  them- 
selves had  no  boats,  partly  because  there  was  no 
tiinlier  available  and  partly  because  the  treacherous 
current,  fairly  disappearing  in  the  dry  season  and 
rising  to  a  torrent  with  the  spring  and  autumn  floods, 
made  even  canoes  an  uncertain  means  of  transporta- 
tion.    Thoy  relied  rather  on  horses,  with  which  they 
wore  well  furnished,  and  on  which  they  hunted  the 
wild  bison  oi  the  plains.     Brevel  had  accompanied 
his  Indian  friends  as  far  west  as  the  Spanish  settle- 
iiionts  in  tlie  Rio  Grande  Valley.     He  estimated  the 
distance  from  the  I'ima  villages  to  be  some  three  hun- 
dred miles.     Sibloy  tiiought  that  the  most  valuable 
land  on  Red  River  began  about  sixty  miles  above  the 
upi)pr  settlements  (seventy  miles  above  Rapide)  ana 
...trnded    four    hundred    miles    beyond.     "About 
ei^lity  or  ninety  years  ago,  a  luunber  of  Frenchmen 
srttled  on  this  part  <.r  Red  River;   they  built  a  mer- 
chant mill,  with  burr  stones  (which  they  brought 


LOUISIANA 


11 


from  France)  and  cultivated  wheat  in  the  prairies 
with  much  success,  and  made  excellent  flour  for  sev- 
eral years,  till,  by  the  repeated  incursions  of  the  Oza, 
they  were  compelled  to  abandon  their  settlements." 
The  Spaniards,  too,  had  attempted  to  develop  this 
region,  sending  some  priests  and  soldiers  with  several 
families,  but  the  post  was  destroyed  by  these  same 
Indians.  Natchitoches,  according  to  Sibley,  was 
a  ''small,  irregular,  and  meanly  built  village"  with 
not  more  than  half  a  dozen  good  houses.  It  had  been 
a  considerable  settlement,  but  the  better  people 
had  moved  to  farms,  leaving  some  forty  families, 
mostly  French,  in  possession  of  the  decaying  public 
buildings.  "From  this  place  the  great  western  road 
takes  off  toward  Mexico,  and  it  will  ever  be  an  im- 
portant place,  being  the  key  to  an  immense  rich 
country." 

Dunbar  reported  that  the  French  settlements  along 
the  Washita  had  well-nigh  disappeared,  the  people 
having  fled  after  the  Natchez  massacre.  At  the 
mouth  of  Black  River  he  found  an  old  I'renchman 
in  charge  of  a  ferry  for  the  transportation  of 
the  occasional  travelh  rs  who  followed  the  trail 
between  Natchez  and  Natchitoches.  At  iiie  army 
post  farther  up  the  river  was  a  small  settlement  — 
some  five  hundred  souls  eking  out  a  miserable  sub- 
sistence by  hunting  deer  and  bear  for  p(>ltry.  There 
was  a  rich  alluvial  soil,  but  they  raised  only  a  little 
corn  and  were  content  to  buy  everything  else  of  the 
traders  who,  taking  advantage  of  their  ignorance, 
chargpd  thprp.  higli  prii'^^-:  for  jpiport"')  i!;*H»|«  whilo 
giving  them  little  for  the  hides  and  bear's  grease 


12 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


they  offered  in  exchange.     Considerable  estates  had 
been  granted  by  the  Spanish  government  to  certain 
French  refugees  —  royahsts  ~,  but  the   validity  of 
these  titles  was  questioned.         Dunbar  and  Hunter 
followed  the  windings  of   the  Washita  to  the  Hot 
Springs.     The  healing  quahties  of  these  waters  were 
already  known,    and    the    place    was    a  resort   for 
health-seekers.     From  this  their  farthest  point,  they 
saw  the  mountains   that  divide   the  Washita  from 
the  streams  that  flow  into  the  Arkansas.     At  the 
head  waters  of  the  Arkansas,  so  the  hunters  told 
them,    silver   ore   was  to  be  found,   and   the  river 
was  navigable  almost  to  its  source.    An  old  Dutch- 
man showed  them  a  pin  that  had  been  wrought  from 
silver  found  by  a  trapper  in  the  mountains  that 
divide   the   eastward-flowing   rivers   from    the    Rio 
Grande  del   Norte  of    the   Spaniards.      French   fur 
traders  told   Dunbar  that  the   Platte  or   Shallow 
River  took  its  rise  in  these  same  mou  itains  near 
the  source  of  the  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers.     They 
described  with  enthusiasm  the  beauty  of  the  coun- 
try that  lay  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi  —  gentle 
rolling  prairie,  timberless  except  for  the  trees  that 
grew  along  the  river  bottoms,  but  clothed  with  ver- 
dure, buffalo  grass,  and  myriad  flowers.     The  climate 
was  dry  and  wholesome,  the  rains  tomperato,    ~  never 
so  violent  as  to  destroy  crops,  — and  the  arid  regions 
near   the    mountains   were   refreshed    with    nightly 
dews.     Numberless    iierds    of    bison    ranged    these 
prairies,   moving  hither   and    thither  in   search   of 
water  and  pasture.     Nr  good  hut^ter  nee<l 
without  food. 


go  long 


LOUISIANA 


13 


Dr.  Sibley  gives  a  careful  account  of  the  Indian 
tribes  in  the  Red  River  region;  peoples  most  of 
whom  have  long  since  disappeared.  Intertribal 
war,  conflicts  with  the  French,  and  the  small- pox 
might  account,  in  his  opinion,  for  the  rapid  ex- 
tinction of  the  natives.  The  Comanches  were  then, 
as  for  long  after,  the  scourge  of  the  plains.  Sibley 
thought  them  inclined  to  be  friendly  to  the  French 
and  Americans,  but  gives  abundant  evidence  of 
their  hostility  to  the  Spaniards.  They  made  a 
pastime  of  steaUng  not  only  horses,  but  children. 
There  were  many  white  slaves  in  the  lodges  of  the 
Comanches,  some  of  whom  were  captured  so  young 
that  they  knew  nothing  of  their  origin. 

A  supplementary  expedition  of  more  formidable 
proportions  was  despatched  up  Red  River  in  the 
year  1806.  Two  army  officers,  Captains  Sparks  and 
Humphreys,  seventeen  privates,  and  a  black  servant, 
together  with  Thomas  Freeman,  a  surveyor,  and 
Dr.  Peter  Custis,  a  naturalist,  made  up  the  party. 
They  embarked  on  May  3,  in  two  flat-bottomed 
barges  and  a  pirogue,  and  reached  the  westernmost 
white  settlement,  forty-five  miles  above  Natchi- 
toches, without  incident.  Here  they  were  overtaken 
by  an  Indian  runner  sent  by  Dr.  Sibley,  now  Indian 
ae;ent  at  Natchitoches,  with  the  news  that  Spanish 
dragoons  were  marching  from  Nacogdoches  to  inter- 
cept the  Americans.  The  Caddoes,  near  whose 
village  the  Spanish  force  was  encamped,  also  gave 
warning ;  but  Sparks'  instructions  had  be^ ..  to  ex- 
plore the  river  to  jfs  Rourcc  unlc?s  'topped  by  a 
force  superior  to  his  own,  and  he  pushed  on.     A  few 


14 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


^1 


days  brought  him  face  to  face  with  a  body  of  three 
hundred  mounted  troopers.  Freeman's  attempt  to 
explain  that  their  object  in  ascending  the  river  was 
purely  scientific  proved  vain,  and  it  became  clear  that 
they  could  not  proceed  without  a  battle.  Deeming 
discretion  the  better  part  of  valor,  the  party  retreated 
down  the  river,  after  having  attained  a  point  about 
six  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  above  its  mouth. 
Freeman  thought  the  country  along  the  upper  river 
"would  become  as  desirable  as  any  portion  of  the 
earth,"  if  the  stream  were  cleared  of  driftwood  and 
the  swamps  and  bayous  drained.  The  Caddo  Ind- 
ians were  raising  corn,  —  fifty  and  sixty  bushels  to 
the  acre,  -  and  they  said  that  farther  west  lay  "level, 
rich  and  almost  continued  prairies,  where  range 
immense  herds  of  buffalo,  up^^n  which  the  Indians 
almost  entirely  subsist,  moving  their  camps  as  these 
animals  migrate  with  the  season  from  north  to 
south  and  back  again."  ^^ 

The  United  States  government  had  every  reason 
to  congratulate  itself  and  the  country  on  the  addi- 
tion of  Louisiana  Territory  to  the  national  domain. 
The  customs  revenue  at  the  port  of  New  Orleans, 
for  example,  amounted  to  $1,000,000  a  year  — seven 
per  cent  interest  on  the  purchase  price  —  while  the 
potential  wealth  represented  in  the  new  industrial 
resources  was  beyond  computation.  Citizens  of  the 
Western  states,  who  were  beginning  to  feel  the  need 
of  elbow  room,  hurried  to  Louisiana  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  promising  openings,  commercial  and 
agricultural.  The  Aincrieans  found  New  Orleans  a 
delightfully  picturesque  town,  and  quite  unlike  any- 


LOUISIANA 


15 


thing  in  the  United  States.  The  roomy  one-story 
houses,  finished  in  stucco — white,  yellow,  and  pink — 
surrounded  by  fig  and  orange  orchards,  seemed  most 
attractive.  The  earth  was  wholly  alluvial  without 
grit  or  stones,  the  streets  were  none  of  them  paved, 
and  after  a  hard  rain  they  became  sloughs  of  black, 
loamy,  greasy  mud  and  quite  impassable.  A  single 
fine  of  logs  served,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  as 
sewer  and  footway.  The  levee,  which  furnished 
the  only  handsome  street,  was  shaded  with  willow 
and  orange  trees  and  furnished  a  public  promenade. 
The  usual  vehicles  were  the  high  r'ooden-wheeled 
carts  in  which  the  peasants  brought  their  vege- 
tables to  market,  and  these  squeaked  through  the 
streets  with  an  intolerable  racket ;  but  this  had  been 
encouraged  by  the  Spanish  intendant  because  it 
served  to  warn  the  customs  collector  of  the  advent 
of  dutiable  goods. 

^Yith  quite  different  emotions  was  the  cession 
regarded  by  the  creole  population  of  Louisiana. 
Notably  at  New  Orleans,  where  the  officers  and  civil 
officials  of  the  Spanish  regime  were  gathered,  there 
was  a  strong  anti-American  feeling,  and  the  belief 
was  general  that  the  province  would  shortly  be 
retroceded  to  Spain.  The  task  imposed  on  Gov- 
ernor Claiborne  was  indeed  a  difficult  one.  He  had 
to  deal  with  a  people  of  whon  not  a  tithe  were 
American  in  origin  oi-  in  sentiment.  The  great 
proportion  were  irreconcilably  foreign  in  blood, 
language,  religion,  and  customs."  The  common  law 
and  trin!  by  jury  were  auspicious  innovations ;  the 
few  American  officials,  always  overbearing  and  often 


lil 


! 


16 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


incompetent,   were  highly  unpopular;   the   restric- 
tions on    the   importation  of   slaves,    promulgated 
with  the  territorial  organization,  were  regarded  as 
disastrous  by  the   planters;    while  the  proud  and 
ambitious    Creoles  of    New  Orleans    resented    the 
territorial    status    and    demanded    that    they   be 
admitted  to  the  "enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  ad- 
vantages, and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States"  ...  "as  soon  as  possible, "  in  accordance  with 
the  terms  of  the  cession.    The  founding  of  a  bank 
of  Louisiana,  authorized  to  issue  paper  money  in 
lieu  of  the  silver  hitherto  imported  from  Vera  Cruz, 
roused  the  distrust  of  the  merchants,  while  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  register  of  lands  with  a  view  to  test- 
ing the  validity  of  grants  made  by  the  Spanish 
intendants  subsequent  to  the  treaty,  spread  alarm 
through  the  ru.'al  communities.     The  investigation 
of  titles  was  a  godsend  to  the  lawyers,  who  flocked 
into  the  territory  from  all  quarters,  but  to  the  litiga- 
tion-hating Louisianians   it   promised  endless    dis- 
turbance.    The  supplanted    Spanish  officials  were 
loath  to  leave  the  province,  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  use  their  mfluence  against  the  new  order,  while 
certain  Americans  long  resident  in  New  Orleans  were 
distinctly  pro-Spanish  in  sympathy.     The  Territory 
of   Orleans   was  but   a  narrow  strip   of   American 
domain  driven  like  a  wedge  into  the  Spanish  do- 
minions, dividing   the   Floridas  from  Texas.     New 
Orleans  lay  open   to   attack  from   the  Gulf,  while 
the  bays  and  islands  along  the  coast  offered  con- 
venient shelter  to   an   enemy.      The   gnvprnors    of 
the  adjacent  Spanish  territories  were  openly  hostile, 


Till-;  'PiociiK. 


A  ( 'nKiii.i;  (  oiTM.i; 
A.'Mclin. 


If' 


>   5 


■i  . 


!1| 


;l 


i  iJi  1 


I)  i 


i    .  i 


LOUISIANA 


17 


1 

3 


troops  were  gathering  at  Nacogdoches  and  supplies 
were  being  landed  at  Mobile,  while  there  was  reason 
to  believe  that  the  Indians  between  the  Arkansas 
and  Red  rivers, were  being  corrupted  by  the  agents 
of  the  viceroy  himself. 

Under  these  conditions,  it  is  no  marvel  that  Gov- 
ernor Claiborne,  harassed  on  every  side,  lent  a  credu- 
lous ear  to  General  Wilkinson's  assertion  that  Aaron 
Burr  was  proposing  to  take  advantage  of  the  general 
disaffection,  make  a  descent  on  Now  Orleans  and, 
on  the  basis  of  that  conquest,  build  up  an  empire 
of  the  south  to  which  the  restless  communities 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio  would  even- 
tually be  annexed.  It  is  now  clear  that  Burr's 
nebulous  plots  were  directed  against  New  Spain  and 
that  few  if  any  of  the  denizens  of  New  Orleans  were 
in  his  confidence;  but  the  charge  of  treason  had 
sufficient  basis  to  be  credited  at  Washington,  and  it 
served  to  increase  the  distrust  of  the  Creole  popula- 
tion and  to  postpone  until  1812  the  creation  of  the 
state  of  Louisiana. 

During  the  last  ten  years  of  the  Spanish  regime, 
traffic  in  slaves  was  permitted  in  Spanish  bottoms, 
and  three  slave  traders,  all  French,  came  into  the 
port  of  New  Orleans,  bringing  four  hundred  and 
sixty-three  negroes.  The  coming  of  the  Americans, 
with  the  prospect  of  more  extensive  exploitation  of 
the  agricultural  possibilities  of  Louisiana,  greatly 
increased  the  demand  for  slaves.  Hence  the  new 
regulation  imposing  a  fine  of  S300  on  each  slave 
imported  and  setting  free  the  illicit '  ch^  ft  db  wn^s 
vigorously  protested,  and  Congress  was  induce      o 


VOL.  II  —  c 


■ti 

liil 
•I?  i 

I  '* 

W 


18 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


modify  the  embargo  by  limiting  the  restriction  to 
vessels  clearing  from  foreign  ports.  Thereafter 
traders  stopped  at  Charleston  and  then  proceeded 
undisturbed  to  Mobile  and  Now  Orleans.  Thirty- 
nine  thousand  Africans  were  so  brought  in  between 
1803  and  1808.  At  the  same  time,  th(  numerous 
islands  and  bayous  of  the  coast  offered  safe  harbor- 
age for  smugglers,  and  thousands  of  slaves  were 
driven  .verland  through  Texas.  The  Cuban  exiles 
(5797)  who  came  to*  New  Orleans  in  1809,  brought 
with  them  1991  slaves,  and  these  were  admitted  de- 
spite the  law,  on  the  plea  that  they  were  refugees. 
The  gathering  of  hundreds  of  these  semi-barbarians 
on  remote  plantations  v/ith  only  a  hf-ndful  of  white 
men  in  control,  was  felt  to  bo  a  menace  to  public 
Safety,  and  the  slave  revolt  of  1811  was  so  formi- 
dable as  to  necessitate  the  callin'>;  out  of  Federal 
troops.  The  "PoUce  of  Slaves,"  ordained  by  Ca- 
rondelet,  was  reenacted  as  a  black  code,  with  intei.t 
to  keep  this  dangerous  element  of  the  population  in 
due  subordination.  Concourses  of  negroes  were 
forbidden  under  heavy  penalty,  and  no  slave  'vas 
allowed  off  his  master's  plantation  without  a  written 
permit.  Slaves  were  forliidden  to  ride  horseback 
or  to  carry  arms,  and  no  liquor  was  to  be  sold  to 
them.  On  the  other  hand  the  supply  of  food  and 
clothing  was  fixed  by  law,  and  the  degree  of  punish- 
ment was  limited  to  thirty  lashes  in  any  one  day. 

To  the  people  of  Louisiana,  the  all-important 
factor,  more  influential  than  soil  or  climate  or  rain- 
fall in  determining  their  indu-  ial  fate,  was  the 
Mississippi  River.    The  mighty      A-cani  had  created 


^.OUISIANA 


19 


the  land  on  which  they  dwelt,  washing  down  every 
year   from    the    uplands    and    prairies   drained    by 
its  fifty-four  tributaries  hundreds   of  thousands  of 
tons  of  silt  which,  deposited  along  its  channel  or 
spread  oot  in  wi«i.    a'luvions  by  the  spring  floods, 
had  fon  <:■<    in    the  course  of  ages  the  vast  delta 
between  •An.  0/.<rks  anri  th"  Appalachians.     From 
Cape  Girardeau,  a  jutting  promontory  of  the  nncicnt 
gulf  shore,  the  river  ran  through  swamps  and  bayous 
of   its   own    making,    twisting   and    writhing   from 
bank  to  bank,  shifting  its  current  with  every  flood 
and  playing  luivoc  with  the  puny  devices  of  man. 
Navigation  was  rendered  difficult  by  the  transient 
sandbars  that  were  carried  hither  and  yon  with  the 
caprices  c:   the   current,   and  by   the  ever  present 
driftwood,  whether  lodged  against  some  obstacle  or 
floating  with  the  stream  and  alternately  lifted  and 
submerged  in   its  uneasy  balance,   the  "planters" 
and  "sawyers"  of  river  parlance.     Whirlpools  and 
eddies  and  cross  currents  play  sport  with  modern 
steamers,  guided  by  experienced  pilots  who  follow 
charts  and  buoys.     In  frontier  days,  many  a  heavily 
laden  flatbf,at  or  keel  was  wrecked  against  snag  or 
shoal  as  it  floated  down  stream,  while  the  upstream 
voyage,   laboriously  performed  by  aid  of  oar  and 
polo  and  cordellc,  seemed  an  endless  task. 

To  the  setlliroH  tho  bottom-lands,  the  Mississippi 
was  no  less  ji  whimsical  tyrant.  For  the  greater  part 
of  its  course  below  Madrid,  the  bed  of  the  river  was 
el(>vated  many  feet  above  the  surrounding  plain  by 
thf  contmual  deposit  nf  sjlt  on  the  bottom  and  Hlficy 
of  the  channel,  so  that  it  flowed  through  a  self-ma' le 


1* 


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It 


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"1. 


20 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


viaduct.     On  either  side,  ihis  wa^  Hanked  by  swamps 
and  stagnant  lagoons  bordered  by  canebrakes  which 
gave  way  in  turn  to  forests  of  cypress  trees  hung  with 
dark  gray  streamers  of  Spanish  moss.     No  animal  Ufe 
throve  except  aUigators,  moccasin  snakes,  and   he  pes- 
tilential mosquito.     An  occasional  bear  came  down  in 
search  of  food,  and  Indian  hunters  might  follow  after. 
In  May,  the  month  of  high  water,  the  whole  region 
was  inundated  and  appeared  a  shoreless  sea.     As  the 
waters  ate  into  the  causeway  here  and  there,  the 
barrier  was  undermined,  the  banks  caved  in,  and 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  acres  of  the  richest  farm 
land  were  swept  away  down  the  river.     From  the 
time   of    the   French    settlement,    the   necessity   of 
dyking  the  stream  had  been  the  paramount  concern 
of  every  landowner.     Each  planter  raised  an  em- 
bankment sufficient  to  guard  his  fields  against  flood 
and  strove    o  make  connection  with  the  plantations 
above  and  below  him.     Thus  these  slave-built  levees 
were   gradually  extended  on  both  sides  the  river, 
forming  what  was  called  the  "Coast."     Here  lay 
the  sugar  and  cotton  plantations  which  constituted 
the  wealth  of  Louisiana ;  e.g.  that  of  M.  Poydras  of 
Foint  Coup6e,  employing  five  hundred  slaves  and 
worth  $2,000,000,  and  that  of  ^Ya(^e  Hampton,  with 
an  annual  crop  of  five  hundred  hogsheads  of  sugar 
and  one  thousand  bales  of  cotton  and  worth  $150,(X)0, 
The  income  of  the  ordinary  planter  was  from  S20,000 
to  $40,000  a  year,  and  land  sold  for  $75  an  acre,  an 
extraordinary  price  for  the  frontier.     When  Timothy 
Flint  went  down  the  Mississippi  in  1822,  the  levees 
began  at  Baton  Itouge,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 


LOUISIANA 


21 


above  New  Orleans  and,  from  that  point  to  sixty 
n  les  below  the  city,  the  plantations  lay  in  a  con- 
tinuous stretch  of  cultivated  land  on  both  sides  of 
the  river.     "The  breadth  of  the  cultivated  lands  is 
generally    two    miles;     a   perfectly    uniform    strip, 
conforming  to  the  shape  of  the  river,  and  every- 
where bounding  the  deep  forests  of  the  Mississippi 
swamp  with  a  regular  line.     In  the  whole  distance 
to  New  Orleans,  plantation  touclies  plantation.     I 
have  seen  in  no  part  of  the  United  States  such  a 
rich  and  highly  cultivated  tract  of  the  same  extent. 
It  far  exceeds  that  on  the  banks  of  tiie  Delaware. 
Noble  houses,  massive  sugar-houses,  neat  summer- 
houses,  and  numerous  negro  villages  succeed  each 
other  in  such  a  way  that  the  whole  distance  has  the 
appearance  of  one  continued  village."  ^- 

New  Orleans,  the  port  of  this  great  alluvial  valley, 
had,  to  Flint's  mind,  an  unexcelled  commercial      por- 
tunity,  superior  to  that  of  New  York.  The  winter  pop- 
ulation wius  already  from  forty  to  fift^;  thousand,  tliree 
times  that  of  180.3.     The  solo  deterrent  to  iliJ  pros- 
perity of  New  Orleans  was  its  unwholesome  climate. 
The  hot  and  pestilential  sumnun-s  drove  out  of  the 
city  all  who  had  the  means  to  get  away.     Six  thou- 
sand persons  were  carrietl  off  by  the  yollow  fever 
epidemic  of  1819,  most  of  them  newcomers  from  the 
North  and  from  Europe.     The  surrounding  district 
was  hardly  more  healthful.     "Betwixt  the  fears  oi 
inundation,  the  efforts  of  the  enslaved  Africans  to 
emancipate    themselves,    and    the    fatality    of    the 
climate,   the  opulent   planters  of   T,^,„,;sjana"   were 
ill  at  ease."    New  Orleans  was  still  a  foreign-looking 


il 


ill 


■V. 


i^  li 


22 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


city  with  stucco  houses,  frescoed  whi'        id  yellow, 
and    the    French    wore    "the    same       .y,    dancing, 
spectacle-loving  race  that  they  are  everywhere  else." 
The  Americans  came  only  to  make  money  which 
they  meant  to  spend  elsewhere,  hence  they  did  not 
live  in  the  showy,  extravagant  style  of  the  Creoles, 
and  stayed  as  short  a  time  as  might  be  in  a  climate 
that  was  far  more  disastrous  to  them  than  to  the 
natives.     Race    antagonism    was    still    p^erious    and 
resulted  in  frequent  broils.     The  mixture  of  races 
was  strikingly  displayed  in  the  vegetable  market. 
"In  a  pleasant  March  forenoon,  you  see,  perhaps, 
half  the  city  there.     The  crowd  covers  half  a  mile 
in  extent.     The  negroes,  mulattoes,  French,  Spanish, 
Germans  are  all  crying  their  articles  in  their  several 
tongues."  '^    The  i)ictures(iue  foreignness  of  the  mar- 
ket was  repeated  on  the  river  which  was  "crowded 
with  the  boats  of  French  and  Spanish  pedlars,  not 
much  larger  than  perogues,   but  fitted  up  with  a 
cabin,  covered  dock,  and  sails."  '^    There,  too,  were 
the  flatboats  of  the  Kentuckians,  loaded  with  flour, 
bacon,  and  whiskey,  and  manned  by  brawny  fron- 
tiersmen,—boats  battered  and  men  gaunt  with  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  three  months'  voyage.     The  first 
cargoes  might  bo  expected  early  in  January  when, 
arriving  in  advance  of  the  glut,  they  could  sell  their 
flour  at  «12.r)0  a  barrel. 

The  business  of  the  place  centred  on  the  river 
front.  Already  in  1820  there  were  sometimes  fifty 
steamboats  lying  in  tl\e  harbor  at  one  time,  and  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  flat  boats  moored  along 
tlie  wharves.     The  freight  capacity  of  one  of  these 


;.3C«:: 


-i^--.iiV-    Jit^it- 


^#-#1 


f-^  i 


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tM 


-m.  -mw^imnm 


LOUISIANA 


23 


latter  frequently  reached  sixty  tons.    Communica- 
tion with  the  interior  by  steamboat  was  "easy,  pleas- 
ant, and  rapid."    More  than  one  hundred  steamers 
were  navigating  the   Mississippi   and  its   principal 
tributaries.     They  were  large  side-wheelers  for   the 
most  part,  with  excellent  passenger  accommodations 
and  ample  freight  capacity.     The  coast  trade  with 
Mobile  and  Florida  was  carried  on  by  three  hundred 
schooners.     Already  more  cotton  was  shipped  from 
this  port  than  from  any  other  in  America,  and  immense 
piles  of  cotton  bales  lay  along  the  levee,  waiting  for 
an  ocean  steamer  to  carry  them  to  New  York,  New 
England,   or   Europe.     Sugar  was   a  great  and   in- 
creasing crop,  and  Flint  believed  that  enough  might 
be  grown  in  Louisiana  to  meet  the  consumption  of 
the  United  States.     There  were  very  productive  plan- 
tations on  the  Bayou  Teche,  along  the  Gulf  Coast, 
and  on  the  adjacent  islands.     Each  sluggish  stream 
and  bayou  formed   its  own   embankment   of  rich, 
black  soil,  and  the  plantations  were  crowded  into 
the  fertile  strip  running  from  one  to  three  miles 
back  from  the  water.     The  R:-«wth  reminded  Flint 
of  the  rank  cornfields  of  Missouri.     The  soil  and 
climate  of  Louisiana  were  admirably  suited  to  the 
development   of   the    stalk,    but    it    contained    less 
saccharine  matter  than  that  grown  in  Cuba,  and  the 
seed  cane  must  be  planted  every  year,  at  considerable 
cost  in  time  and  labor.     The  most  serifuis  obstacle, 
however,  was  the  scarcity  of  capital.     A  heavy  in- 
vestment was    required    for    the   sugar-houses   (as 
large  and  imposing  as  New  England  factories),  and 
for  the  purchase  and  maintenance  of  the  force  of 


! 


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If. 


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,  »'f 


i:f 


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-  I 


^Tai 


m^mMm^ 


24 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


slaves.  Rice  and  indigo  had  been  cultivated  formerly 
of  a  quality  superior  to  the  Georgia  yield  ;  corn,  sweet 
potatoes,  melons,  figs,  and  oranges,  and  all  northern 
fruits,  except  apples,  flourished;  but  the  planters 
found  more  money  profit  in  sugar  and  cotton,  es- 
pecially the  former,  so  they  were  neglecting  all 
other  crops  and  "calculated  to  supply  themselves 
with  provisions  almost  entu-ely  from  the  upper 
country."  ^^  Natchez  was  the  up-country  cotton 
market.  At  the  shipping  season  a  thousand  boats 
of  all  descriptions,  from  the  Pittsburgh-built  steam- 
boat to  the  log  raft,  lay  at  this  landing,  the  town 
was  full  of  boatmen,  and  the  streets  were  almost 
barricaded  with  cotton  bales. 

Negroes  were  everywhere.     Slave  labor  was  deemed 
essential  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton  and  sugar  in  a 
climate  that  was  enervating  to  the  whites.     Without 
it,  men  believed,  the  land  would  relapse  to  wilderness. 
Flint,  New  England  clergyman  though  he  was,  found 
himself   agreeing  with   this   point   of   view.     "The 
slaves  appeared  to  me  to  be  as  well  fed  and  clothed 
as  the  labouring  poor  at  the  North."     They  were  far 
better  off  physically  than  in  the  upper  country,  for 
their  strength  and  contentment  was  the  chief  factor 
in  prosperity,  and  it  was  the  planter's  interest  that 
they   should    be    kept    in    good    bodily    condition. 
Adequate  food  and  shelter  were  provided  for  these 
valuable  animals,  as  well  as  hospitals  for  the  sick 
and  regular  medical  attendance.     The  freed  blacks 
led  a  wretched  existence,  Flint  thought.     They  had 
few  opportunities  of  earning  an  honest  living  and 
readily    took   to    thieving    and    vice.      Unlike    the 


I  LOUISIANA  25 

plantation  negroes,  they  had  "the  wretched  privilege 
of  getting  drunk."  n  The  poor  whites  of  the  upper 
river  set  them  a  demoralizing  example,  as  did  also 
the  mongrel  population,  French  and  Spanish  mixed 
with  Indian  blood,  who  were  "vagabonds  almost 
to  a  man.  '  "  Scarcely  any  of  them  have  any  regular 
occupation,  unless  it  be  that  of  herding  cattle ;  but 
they  raise  a  little  maize,  and  fish  a  little,  and  hunt  a 
little,  and  smoke  and  lounge  a  great  deal."»8 

Timothy  Flint,  going  up  to  Natchitoches  in  1820 
found  flourishing  plantations  all  the  way.   The  climate 
was  not  warm  enough  for  sugar-cane,  but  the  cotton 
plant  grew  as  high  as  a  man's  head  and  yielded  two 
bales  to  the  acre.     Wheat  grew  eighty  bushels  to 
the  acre,  and  the  selling  price  was  S3.50  per  bushel 
Alexandria  was  the  market  for  the  parish  of  Rapide 
^  and   the   upper  river  since   the    rapids   prevented 
steamers  going  farther  except  in  high  water,  when  they 
ventured  to  Natchitoches.     Above    that  point  the 
<..reat  Raft  proved  an  insuperable  barrier  for  all  craft 
arger  than  the    pirogues,   which  went    on  to   the 
Lnited  Stal.     garrison  at  Kiamesha.     From  Natchi- 
ochcK  a  lively  trade  was  conducted  with  San  An- 
omo,  Monclava,  and  the  City  of  Mexico.     Mules 
laden  with  silver  were  driven  over  the  Camino  Real 
and  horses  bred  by  the  Texas  rancheros  were  sold 
to  the  merchants,  who  sent  them  to  the  farmers  of 
^  Missouri   and  Kentuckv.     This  frontier  town   was 
l^'oreover.   a  harbor  c.   refuge  for   criminals,  both 
i'^f^'^^ish  and  American. 

VJ'Tr'TVf   ""'   ^"   ^""^-  ^"'•"'   ^"d   cotton. 
i^vo-t!Hrds  of  the  state  was  swamp  and  pine  barren. 


.1 

I-   fi 

i  ' 


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26 


•  f 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


To  the  west  and  north  the  land  was  high  and  the 
soil  thin  and  sandy.  Here  great  droves  of  cattle 
and  hogs  fattened  on  the  mast  and  native  grasses, 
settlements  were  few  and  far  apart,  and  "there 
being  little  call  for  labor,  the  inhabitants  labor 
little,  and  are  consent  with  indolence,  health  and 
poverty."  ^' 


ms^^^B^i 


f 


CHAPTER  II 


MISSOURI   TERRITORY 

The  watershed  of  the  Arkansas  River  was  not 
regarded  as  a  hopeful  opportunity  for  the  pioneer. 
For  an  unknown  distance  back  from  tl)e  Mississippi, 
the  land  was  low  and  fiat,  and  the  rivers  flowed 
sluggishly  through  vast  swamps  or  widened  out  into 
lakes  and  bayous,  infested  by  alligators  and  mos- 
quitoes and  overhung  by  malarial  vapors,  poisonous 
to  persons  not  habituated   to  the  climate.     Here 
grew  nothing  that  could  be  made  to  serve  man's 
needs  except  the  funereal  cypress,  and  no  industry 
might  be  developed  except  that  of  the  wood-cutters 
who  shipped  scow-loads  of  lumber  and  fuel  to  New 
Orleans.    The  Arkansas   River  was  navigable  for 
keel-boats  for  two  hundred  miles,  and  the  Washita, 
Black,  White  and  St.  Francis  served  the  purposes  of 
commerce,  except  where  the  drifted  timber  had  col- 
lected in  great  rafts  that  effectively  blocked  passage. 
Occasional  elevations  or  prairies  (e.g.  Grand  Prairie, 
one  hundred  miles  in  length)   furnished  the  only 
opportunity  for  settlement,  and  these  were  quickly 
found  and  utihzed.     When  Nuttall  descended  the 
Mississippi  in   1819,  he  found  the  French  villages 
dwindhng.     Big   and   Little   Prairie   had    been   de- 
stroyed by  the  earthquake  of  1811  ^  and  by  subse- 
quent inundations,  and  the  region  was  still  subject 
to  an  occasional  shock  by  no  means  reassuring  to 

27 


111 


'i  Pi 


i 


■  i   ; 


l\ 


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, .  !i 


lit 


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:tin 


M^^;^^f:^:^^Wm^W^^^ 


28 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


the  soul  of  the  pioneer.  The  habitants  were  "here, 
as  elsewhere,  in  miserable  circumstances,"  ^  and 
raised  "no  wheat,  and  scarcely  enough  of  maize  for 
their  support."  They  still  dressed  in  the  half- 
Indian  costume  of  the  voyageur,  —  "blanket  capeaus, 
buckskin  pantaloons,  and  moccasins,"  with  no  head 
covering  but  a  handkerchief,  for  men  and  women 
alike.  For  the  isolated  squatter,  the  hunt  was 
still  an  important  supplement  to  farming,  and  these 
"hunting  farmers"  brought  their  beaver  skins  to 
Nuttall's  bateau  "anxious  to  barter  them  for 
whiskey,  though  scarcely  possessed  either  of  bread 
or  vegetables."  New  Madrid  was  an  insignificant 
hamlet,^  made  up  of  some  twenty  log  houses  and 
two  or  three  stores  miserably  supplied  with  goods 
that  sold  at  exorbitant  prices.  Arkansas  Post,  built 
on  a  bluff  beyond  the  reach  of  inundations,  was  still 
a  considerable  town,  1  oasting  from  thirty  to  forty 
houses  and  three  mercantile  establishments.  The 
proprietors  brought  groceries  and  textiles  from  New 
Orleans  and  hardware  from  Pittsburgh,  and  they  were 
accustomed  to  carry  their  stock  in  trade  up  the  Ar- 
kansas as  far  as  Fort  Smith.''  The  farmers  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Post  were  largely  French  and 
were  growing  good  crops  of  corn  and  cotton.  The 
rich  alluvial  soil  produced  from  one  thousand  to 
fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  cotton  to  the  acre  and,  since 
this  sold  at  $5  to  S6  per  hundredweight  in  the  se^  1, 
the  crop  was  a  paying  one.  Of  slaves  there  v^n? 
few  in  this  primitive  community,  but  white  labor  was 
to  be  had  at  from  $12  to  $15  per  month  with  boai::. 
Settlement  was  retarded  by  uncertainty  as  to  111  d 


^t?-^-' '',*m-. 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 

titles,  occasioned  by  the  Spanish  grants  that  had 
not  yet  been  confirmed  or  annulled  by  the  United 
States  government.  The  Winters  of  Natchez  claimed 
a  tract  of  one  million  acres  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Post,  two  Spanish  commandantes  had  re- 
ceived grants  of  indefinite  extent  on  White  River, 
while  Baron  Bastrop's  fifty  thousand  acres  on  the 
Washita  were  claimed  by  his  heirs.^ 

On  the  prairies  back  from  the  river  were  some 
French-speaking    squatters,    half-breeds    or    metifs, 
said  to  be  descended  from  the  ten  men  whom  Tonti 
had  left  at  the  Post  in  1686.     They  had  degenerated 
to   the   savage   state   and   were   "entirely   hunters, 
Indians  in  habit,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil."     The  American  settlers  farther 
up  the  stream  were  for  the  most  part  from  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee.     They  were  growing  corn  and  cotton 
with  success,  but  hesitated  to  make  any  permanent 
improvements    because   of   their   uncertain   tenure. 
(>  tton-gins,  sawmillf--,  and  grist-mills  were  projected, 
but  little  had  as  yet  been  accomplished.     At  Little 
Rock,  the  entrance  to  the  hill  country,  a  Georgian 
nameu  Hogan  had  laid  out  a  town  and  proposed  to 
uTilize  the  waier-power.     At  fhe  mouth  of  the  Cad- 
^  n  :inot  -r  town  was  projected,  and  the  one  occu- 
->ar     of   a   town  lot   cherished   great   hopes  of  the 
-1.^       hut  to  Nuttall's  unbiased  judgment  there 
-^Hi  :i,,  reason  for  any  accession  of  population  or 
'>t^—      The  last  white  settlement  on  the  Arkansas 
'V2^   V    I^ecanncrie  (so  named  for  the  pecan  trees 
-im-  gr^  in  rh^  ^urrr^unding  forests).     Here  some 
r-rrr   faniilies  had  found  fertile  lands  and  a  whole- 


;  '  f  • 


r      ■  I,    u 

lilt  II 

1-1 


:1 


m 


'I' 


30  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

some  climate,  but  the  men  were  renegades  and 
fugitives  from  justice,  an  ignorant  and  lawless  lot. 
They  were  too  far  from  the  market  to  sell  cotton 
at  a  paying  price  ($3  per  hundredweight  m  seed) 
and  their  agriculture  was  confined  to  corn  and 
potatoes  for  their  own  food. 

Nuttall  thought  the  agricultural  possibilities  of 
Arkansas    unequalled    if    once    the    swamps    were 
drained    and    the    rivers    cleared    of    obstructions. 
Cotton,  com,  rice,  indigo,  tobacco,  and  hemp  bore 
abundantly,  while  subtropic  fruits,  peaches    plums 
and  grapes  flourished  in  the  open,  and  well-laden 
orchards  were  seen  even  about  the  Indian  villages. 
Cattle  were  allowed  to  run  at  large,  since  they  re- 
quired no  shelter  and  were  driven  in  only  for  an 
occasional   counting   and   salting.    They   subsisted 
through  the  mild  winters  on  the  natural  fodder  fur- 
nished by  the  canebrakes  and  shave  rush  (equisetum 
hiemale).    No  attention  was  paid  to  breed,  not  even 
of  horses.    These,  too,  ran  wild  and,  though  they 
deteriorated  in  size,  grew  .tocky  and  vigorous  after 
the  hardy  Spanish  type.      They  brought  from  $50 
to  SlOO  apiece  in  the  local  market.    South  of  tort 
Smith  in  the  valley  of  the  "Pottoe"  (Poteau)  River 
was  a  wonderful  pasture-land.     ''The  whole  country 
was  a  prairie,  full  of  luxuriant  grass,"  "  and  this 
natural  pasturage  extended  "even  to  the  summits 
of  the  hills,  offering  an  almost  inexhaustible  range 
to    cattle."  '    Here  were    feeding  throngs  of  wild 
horses,  herds  of  deer,  and  even  an  occasional  buffalo. 
On  the  lower  river,  government  surveyors  were 
already  at   work,   plotting  the  lands  of  first  and 


^* 


w^ 'USSrirR^»«sy^n*»iif::«B«s 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


31 


second  grade,  and  these  were  soon  to  be  sold  at 
auction  at  the  minimum  rate  of  $2  per  acre.  Specu- 
lators were  also  on  the  ground  with  land  scrip 
representing  the  preemption  rights  of  veterans  of 
the  recent  war,  which  they  had  bought  at  from  $3 
to  $10  per  acre,  assuming  the  payment  to  the  land 
office  and  expecting  to  recoup  themselves  out  of 
sales  to  prospective  emigrants.  All  of  the  land  was 
fertile,  but  much  of  it  lay  so  low  as  to  be  unfit  for 
human  habitation,  and  the  advertisements  printed 
in  the  eastern  papers  were  usually  misleading. 
Martin  Chuzzlewit's  "Eden"  is  a  fair  example  of 
the  frauds  perpetrated  on  the  ignorant  investor. 
Wherever  there  was  sufficient  altitude  to  provide 
drainage,  however,  the  climate  was  salubrious,  and 
the  settlements  flourished.  A  town  in  this  region 
with  a  fortunate  location  was  like  Jonah's  gourd, 
the  growth  of  a  night. 

White  River,  in  its  upper  reaches,  flowed  through 
flinty  hills,  and  although  the  narrow  bottoms  were 
fertile  and  capable  of  producing  excellent  crops  of 
corn,  wheat,  and  cotton,  the  river  was  not  navigable 
except  for  canoes  and  there  was  no  inducement  to 
raise  crops  that  could  not  be  got  to  market.  Here 
conditions  were  primitive  indeed.  Schoolcraft,  the 
geologist,  who  visited  the  region  in  1819,  describes 
the  people.  "The  only  inhabitants  on  the  upper 
parts  of  White  River,  so  far  as  inhabitants  h.  ve 
penetrated,  are  hunters,  who  live  in  camps  and 
log-cabins,  and  support  themselves  by  hunting  the 
boar,  deer,  buffalo,  elk,  beaver,  raccoon,  and  other 
iiiiinials  who  are  found  in  great  plenty  in  that  region. 


I* 


111. 


mM^^ 


32  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

They    also    raise    some   corn    for   bread,    and    for 
feeding  their  horses,  on  preparing  for  long  journeys 
into  the  woods,  or  other    extraordinary  occasions. 
They  seldom,  however,  cultivate  more  than  an  acre 
or  two,  subsisting  chiefly  on  animal  food  and  wild 
honey,    and  pay   no   attention  to   the    cultivation 
of  garden  vegetables,  if  I  except  some   cabbages, 
noticed  at  a  few  habitations.     When  the  season  of 
hunting  arrives,  the  ordinary  labors  of  a  man  about 
the  house  and  cornfield  devolve  upon  the  women, 
whose  condition  in  such  a  state  of  society  may  readily 
be  imagined.     They  in  fact  pursue  a  similar  course 
of  life  with  the  savages ;  having  embraced  their  love 
of  ease,  and  their  contempt  for  agricultural  pursuits, 
with  their  sagacity  in  the  chase,  their  mode  of  dress- 
ing in  skins,  their  manners,  and  their  hospitality  to 

strangers. 

"The  furs  and  peltries  which  are  collected  during 
repeated  excursions  in  the  woods,  arc  taken  down  the 
river  at  certain  seasons  in  canoes,  and  disposed  of  to 
traders  who  visit  the  lower  parts  of  this  river  for  that 
purpose.     Here  they  receive  in  exchange  for  their  furs 
woolen  cloths,  rifles,  knives  and  hatchets,  salt,  pow- 
der, lead,  iron  for  horse  shoos,  blankets,  iron  pots, 
shoes,  and  other  articl"s  of  primary  importance  in 
their  way  of  life.     Tliose  living  near  the  cultivated 
parts  of  Lawrence  County,  in  Arkansas  Territory, 
also  bring  <lown  in  exchange  for  such  articles,  bulTaloe 
beef,  pork,  l)ears'  meat,  bees'  wax,  and  honey  ;  which 
are  again  sold  by  the  traders  along  (he  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  or  at  New  Orh^ans.     Very  little  cash  is 
paid,  and  that  in  hard  money  only,  no  bank  bills  of 


TV-.,  fki 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY  33 

any  kind  being  taken  in  that  quarter.    I  happened 
to  be  present,  on  my  return  from  the  head  waters  of 
White  River,  at  one  of  these  exchanges,  where  a  fur- 
ther opportunity  was  offered  of  observing  the  man- 
ners and  character  of  these  savage  Europeans.     Bears' 
meat  was  sold  at  $10  per  cwt.;  buffaloe  beef  at  $4  • 
cows'  beef  at  $3 ;  pork,  in  the  hog,  at  $3.50 ;  venison 
hams  at  25  cents  each ;  wild  turkies  the  same ;  wild 
honey  at  $1  per  gallon ;  beaver  fur  $2  per  lb. ;  bears' 
skins  S1.50  each;  otter's  skins  $2  a  piece;   raccoon 
25  cents  each;   deers'  skins  25  cen^Per  lb.     These 
prices  were  considered  high  by  thd^'purchaser,  but 
they  were  only  nominally  so,  for  he  paid  them  off  in 
articles   at    the   most    exorbitant   rates.     Common 
three-point  or  Mackinaw  blankets  were  sold  at  $8 
each ;  butcher  knives  at  $2 ;  rifle  locks  at  $8 ;  com- 
mon coarse  blue  cloth  at  $0  per  yard;   coffee  at  75 
cents  per  lb. ;  salt  at  $5  per  bushel ;  lead  at  25  cents 
per  lb. ;  gunpowder  at  $2  per  lb. ;  axes  at  $6  each ; 
horse  shoe  nails  at  $3  per  set,  &c.    The  trade  of  this 
river  is  consequently  attended  with  profits  which 
amply  repay  for  the  risks  and  fatigues  incident  to  a 
voyage  in  that  quarter.    Vast  quantities  of  furs  and 
skins  &TO  annually  brought  down  this  river,  with 
some  bees'  wax,  honey,  beef,  bacon,  &c."  « 

The  United  States  government  had  chosen  the 
upper  Arkansas  valley  for  an  Indian  reservation,  and 
was  removing  hither  the  tribes  who.se  lands  were 
coveted  by  the  whites.  The  Quapaws  had  sold  sixty 
thousand  scjiiare  miles  in  the  lower  valley  for  $4000 
down  and  an  annuity  of  $1000.  The  bargain  had 
proved  a  good  one  for  the  government,  for  tluv-M-  «mue 

VOL.   II  —  D 


in 


I. 


H 


] 
I 
1 
I 


'^  ■  f-  I 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


I-     V 


m 


34 

kees,  transplanted  from  t>«''»»'  *'        „  „ith  those 
sou  andbuUding  houses  that  ejpared-^^^^^^^ 

of  the  white  -ttlers  although  *_e^ov  ^^^^^^ 

not  yet  established  the.r  titles.    The  US  ^ 
.Jved  from  ther  vmag^north^  the^^^^ 

were  less  promismg.    Longm  ._^^^^^^.^^  ^^^ 

had  brought  to  """SW  *e  ;"a  _^  ^__  ^  ^^^^^ 

had  taught  them  nothing  better 

„,,e,  and  oV;^'^'"^ --^t  SetapP-  who  fell 
braves  revt,,-><«=  ^em'"'  ^^^^  ^nd  strippingand 
intotheir  power,  steahngthe.r  no  ^^^^ 

torturing  the  de.eneeles.  '-'^■J^^^^^  „ho  were 

i„,  between  the  I"~"i%Xi  mischievous 
,o,eed  to  vacate  and  make  way  f  ^^^^^^ 

wards  of  Uncle  Sam.    it  w«  ^^^ 

parent  that  the  Indians  e""^f  »~^^  „Hh  food, 
buffalo  herds,  which  had    """f^^^^^^,,.    As  the 

clothing,  ana  ^>'*- "wZ  e™-^'  *^  ''''\ 
white  man  advanced  up  tl«  «™  Experienced 

„,eated  be'o- ;;    ea^^„«~  <  wasVceed- 
hunters  estimated  that  tins  ^^^^^, 

i„,  at  the  rate  of  ^^"Tto  hundred  thousand,  of 
daughterwase^timatedattwo  hu  ^^^^  ^.^^^^, 

«>"*''''f.n*"T;  irninsled  herds  took  refuge 
by  the  white  .^  J';;tad  waters  of  the  Arkansas 
in  the  "  parks    at  the  ("-a  ,  ^^^  ^„„ky 

and  Platte  and  ""»*''/  rbundrgrass  •'benches" 
and  Wasatch  ranges  to  the  bunch  gra 

on  their  western  slope-  ^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^     ,^,„,,  ^teen 

Arkansa..  was  ^'»-  .  V;  ;„      unaccustomed  to  re- 
hundreil  hunters  and  trappers,  un 


'% 


■wk 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


35 


straint,  degenerate  in  habits  and  morals,  supported 
a  miserable  existence  in  the  back  country,  while  the 
town  population  was  largely  composed  of  renegades 
and  fugitives  from  justice  who  sought  escape  from 
civil  authority.  The  territory  of  Arkansas  was  or- 
ganized in  1821,  and  a  governor  was  sent  out  from 
Washington  who  inaugurated  his  administration  at 
Arkansas  Post  with  considerable  pomp ;  but  the  laws 
against  gambUng,  etc.,  enacted  by  the  infant  legislature, 
were  broken  by  the  officials  themselves  with  small 
regard  for  decency,  and  the  "rough  and  untamed" 
people  pursued  their  licentious  practices  unchecked. 

The  Missouri  River  Settlements 

The  valley  of  the  Missouri  was  better  drained  than 
that  of  the  Arkansas,  and  the  climate  was  more  brac- 
ing, while  soil  and  rainfall  were  no  less  auspicious. 
When  Lewis  and  Clark  went  up  the  river  in  1804,  they 
noted  the  fields  of  corn  and  wheat  belonging  to  the 
habitants  of  Portage  des  Sioux  showing  lair  in  the 
rich  bottom  lands  of  the  north  bank.  The  village  of 
St.  Charles,  or  Petite  C6te,  as  the  people  preferred  to 
call  it,  contained  about  one  hundred  houses,  "the 
most  of  them  small  and  indifferent,"  and  four  hun- 
dred people,  chiefly  Canadian  French  with  an  occa- 
sional dash  of  Indian  blood.  "A  great  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  are  miserably  pour  illiterate  and 
when  at  home  excessively  lazy,  tho'  they  are  polite 
hospitable  and  by  no  means  deficient  in  point  of 
natural  g(>niou8.  ...  A  small  garden  of  vegetables 
is  the  usual  extent  of  theh  ultivation,  and  this  is 
CDiiimoniy  imposed  on  the  old-uiCM  and  boys ;    the 


;  ■« 


H 


aH 


t  s 

I. 


«r!i:#^%i^-     A-£fi:    ...yrW' 


-  ilk 


36  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

men  in  the  vigor  of  life  consider  the  cultivation  of  the 
earth  a  degrading  occupation,  and  in  order  to  gain  the 
necessar-     ubsistence  for  themselves  and  families, 
eitherundertakehuntingvoyagesontheirown  account, 
or  engage  themselves  as  hirelings"^  to  men  with  suffi- 
cient capital  to  fit  out  more  ambitious  expeditions. 
On  Femme Osage  (Boone's  Lick),  where  many  people 
came  down  to  the  river's  bank  to  watch  the  passing 
of  the  explorers,  there  were  thirty  or  forty  American 
families.    The  first  settler  was  Daniel  Boone,  the  pio- 
neer of  the  trans-Alleghany  migration,  who,  having 
lost  his  lands  in  Kentucky  by  some  lawyer's  trick,  had 
moved  on  to  this  new  frontier  and  secured  a  Spanish 

grant  (1798). 

When  the  Astorians  ascended  the  nver  six  years 
later,  the  ultima  thule  of  civilization  was  sixty  miles 
above  St.  Charles  on  Boone's  Lick.     Boone  had  just 
returned  from  the  spring  hunt  with  sixty  beaver 
skins,  and  he  overlooked  the  launching  of  Hunt's 
bateaux  with  a  professional  eye.    Bradbury's  de- 
scription is  graphic.     "The  old  man  was  still  erect  in 
form,  strong  in  limb  and  unflinching  in  spirit ;  and  as 
he  stood  on  the  river-bank,  watching  the  departure 
of  an  expedition  destined  to  traverse  the  wilderness 
to  the  very  shores  of  the  Pacific,  very  probably  felt 
a  throb  of  his  old  pioneer  spirit,  impelling  him  U) 
shoulder  his  rifle  and  join  the  adventurous  band."  '° 
Brackenridge,  who  was  of  Lisa's  party,  noted  with 
surprise  that  there  were  'Hi^lorable  plantations"  in 
the  bottom  lands  as  far  as  Point  Labadie.     "These 
usually  ronsist  of  a  few  acres  d.Pared.  on  tlir  borders 
of  the  river,  with  a  small  log  hut  or  cabin,  aad  stables 


a. 

I 


■1 
•a 

4 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


37 


Wjli.m.  E...  C,  N.». 


Settlements  in  Upper  Louisiana,  1820. 


for  horses,  etc.  They  raise  a  little  Indian  corn, 
pumpions,  potatoes,  and  a  few  vegetables.  But 
they  have  abundance  of  hogs  and  horned  cattle."  " 
On  Le  Mine  River  were  valuable  salt-works  under  the 
management  of  Braxton  Cooper  of  Culpepper,  Vir- 
ginia. "The  settlement  is  but  one  year  old.  hut  )« 
already  considerable,  and  increasing  rapidly ;   it  con- 


«< 


'0% 


'■    I'-' 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


!l 


1^: 

IP  r 


the  greater  part  living 


38 

sists  of  seventy-five  ^_^^^'''--  ^^  ^,^  or  five 
on  the  bank  of  the  nver  m  th-P-^^^^^  ^.^^^^_ 
miles.    They  axe  generally  persons  in  g 

stances,  most  of  j;^- ^^J/ ^7.  tfe  n^^^^^^^^^^^ 
formed  me  that  he  -P^-J^^^^^^^^^^  ,he  mouth 

ful  he  ever  beheld.    He  ^^^""^^J^^^^  {„,  ^t  least 

ri:h  wtmaLd ;  the  prairies  forn>ing  but  tnflmg  pro- 

r^lLl  o,  the  I.n,  e^peditio^  ^821,  ^ves 
evidence  of  considerable  accessions  to  the  popu 
r„  of  Missouri  in  the  eleven  years  interval.    The 
t,on  of  M«sour.  ,^„^    Tennessee, 

Sr^o*  —  who'  took  up  land  in  the  river 

::ll  and  worked  the™  >>y  ^^^J'''^  J^t 

settlements  were   P^^P^^'''    3  titles  and  the 
.eta^ded  by  the  -ert-ty  "l  ^1^:;^  ^^^ 
preemp  .on    of    the  J  ^^^  ^^^^^ 

dmanly  tertue,  mipi  ,.i„;mpd  bv  Chouteau 

,    J.  iU„<.  tVio  trnft  was  ciaimeu  uj^  '-" 
"■%hf  ba^s   o     a    Spanish    ^ant.     Just  above 
on  the    basis    oi    u      f  Missouri, 

the  Osage  on   the  ,f™th   bank  "f   t  __^^^ 

the  land  had  been  'Wed      or  a  ^^^^ 

r  ^7mS      r      LiUle  Manito  Rocks 
S.     rntyTwere  several  niushr,»n.  to^ns  wi  ^ 

=vrs^:^re:==-^^^^^ 


i 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


39 


projector  who  cherished  great  hopes  of  the  future. 
"Almost  every  settler,  who  has  established  himself 
on  the  Missouri,  is  confidently  expecting  that  his 
farm  is,  in  a  few  years,  to  become  the  seat  of  wealth 
and  business,  and  the  mart  for  an  extensive  dis- 
trict." "  Franklin,  a  two-year-old  village  across  the 
river  from  Booneville,  was  confident  of  becoming  a 
metropolis.  Her?  uncleared  land  wss  selling  at 
from  $2  to  $10  and  $15  an  acre,  corn  brought 
twenty-five  cents  a  bushel,  wheat  $1,  and  bacon 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  a  pound,  while  labor  cost 
seventy-five  cents  a  day.  The  fecundity  of  the  soil  was 
unparalleled,  and  tillage  proved  comparatively  inex- 
pensive. A  slave  could  cultivate  twenty  acres  of  corn 
and  produce  sixty  bushels  per  acre  in  a  season,  whereas 
in  Kentucky  the  same  amount  of  labor  was  expended 
on  fifteen  acres  with  a  smaller  acreage  return,  so  that 
the  i)rofits  of  farming  were  reckoned  to  be  one-third 
less  than  in  Missouri.  Chariton,  a  village  of  fifty 
houses  and  five  hundred  people,  was  the  last  white 
settlement,  and  the  inhabitants  lined  the  bank  to  see 
the  Western  Enffimer,  the  first  steamboat  that  had 
ever  ascended  the  Missouri.  Beyond,  the  only  sign 
of  white  occupation  was  an  occasional  trapper's  lodge, 
where  some  worn-out  mountain  man  had  under- 
taken to  till  the  soil  and  had  painfully  "made  his  first 
crop."  One  such  man  was  planning  to  take  his 
family  up  the  Platte  River. 

The  pioneers  of  the  westward  migration  in  Mis- 
souri, as  in  Arkansas,  were  mere  "squatters,"— worn- 
out  trappers  fain  to  eke  out  existence  for  themselves 
and  their  half-breed  families  by  desultory  farming, 


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40  AMERICAN  SE^fTLERS 

luckless  traders  so  long  accuEtomed  to  intercourse 
with  the  Indians  that  the  ways  of  civilization  were 
irksome  to  them,  refugees  and  renegades  who  sought 
exemption  from  restraint  in  the  region  Flint  called 
^H^land  beyond  the  Sabbath."    Such  a  man  d.d 
not  buy  land,  but  put  up  a  temporary  shelter  in  a 
location  where  wood,  water,  and  pasturage  were  abun- 
dant and  where  the  hunting  wa.  still  good.    Since 
his  only  wealth  was  in  horses,  cattle,  and  swine,  he  lost 
nothing  by  change  of  habitat.     ''When  the  canes  are 
Z  down  and  destroyed,  and  the  acorns  become 
scarce,  the  small  corn-field  and  the  rude  cabin  a  e 
abandoned,  and  the  squatter  goes  m  search  of  a  place 
where  all  the  original  wealth  of  the  forest  is  yet  un- 
Linished.    Here  he  again  builds  h.s  hut  remove 
the  trees  from  a  few  acres  of  land   which  supplies 
its  annual  crop  of  corn,  while  the  neighboring  wood^, 
for  an  extent  of  several  miles,  are  used  both  as  pas 
ture  and  hunting  grounds."  "    James,  the  chronicler 
of  the  Long  expedition,  quotes  Boone  as  saymg  that 
it  was  high  time  to  move  when  a  man  could  no  longer 
fell  a  tree  for  firewood  within  a  few  yards  of  his 

""^The  b^k  of  the  pioneers  came  of  Southern  stock, 
often  from  Virginia  or  the  CaroUnas  direct,  but  more 
frequently  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky  or  the  Gulf 
states,  or  from  the  lower  counties  of  the  common- 
wealths beyond  the  Ohio  where  the  f  ^^^  °^f  f  J 
ern  blood  was  strong;  ar  i  everywhere  he  Scotch- 
Irish  element  led  the  van.  Vigorous,  self-assertive 
resourceful,  the  Appalachian  mountaineers  revelled 
in  the  vicissitudes  and  perils  of  the  wilderness,  and 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


41 


were  more  at  home  in  a  prairie  schooner  than  in  a 
comfortable  but  stationary  dwelling.  The  westward 
movement  was  impelled  not  so  much  by  necessity  as 
by  the  love  of  adventure  and  the  belief  that  some- 
where beyond  civilization  lay  the  opportunity  for 
speedy  wealth.  The  direction  of  migration  was  de- 
termined by  successive  crazes, — e.g.  for  Boone's  Lick, 
for  Salt  River  (Iowa),  for  the  Mauvaises  Terres  on  the 
Illinois,  for  Colonel  Austin's  colony  on  the  Brazos. 

After  the  peace  of  Ghent  had  guaranteed  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  frontier,  came  the  permanent  settlers 
bringing  wives  and  children  from  "back  east,"  to- 
gether with  agricultural  implements,  domestic  uten- 
sils, and  slaves.    They  came  in  flatboats  down  the 
Ohio  or  the  Cumberland  or  the  Tennessee  to  the  great 
river  that  swept  them  on  to  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and 
Louisiana.    Schoolcraft,  on  his  voyage  from  Cairo  to 
St.  Louis,  passed  a  score  or  more  of  "boats  of  all  de- 
nominations, laden  with  merchandize,  and  emigrant 
passengers,  chiefly  destined  for  Boon's  Lick  on  the 
Missouri,"  »5  then  reputed  to  be  one  of  the  richest 
bodies  of    land  west   of  the  Alleghanies.      These 
emigrants  were  largely  from  the  Northern  states,  — 
Maine,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  western  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania,  with  a  few  Kentucky  families  of 
the   better   type,    and    their   principal   settlement, 
Franklin,  was  a  center  of  light  and  learning,  as  well 
as  of  commerce. 

On  the  Whitewater,  back  of  Cape  Girardeau,  was 
a  colony  of  German  Lutherans,  most  of  whom  had 
come  first  to  Pennsylvania  or  North  Carolina  and 
later  moved  on  to  Missouri  in  search  of  better  land. 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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42 

patient  and  hard-work,ng,  an  _ 

to  the  housew,fely  ar^  of Jhe  Old  ^^^^^^^^ 

to  ineir  r  conversation  and 

:r.  ;:    :  ^p:Sa^o.h  .du.tHa>  ene^ 

— '  *°  nr rr^dl^Tw J^a^^e 

mans  were  a  large   ^^out    ru 

Frenchmen  were  "spare,  thm,  saiiow  <ii 

S  tteir  flesh  adhering  to  their  bo-^'  »f  ?,; 

Tal  ,y  dried  to  the  consistency  of  parchm  n^. 

C  German  and  the  French  settlers  were  ahko  at 

The  oerma  ^^^^^  ^^^^^.^  ,^„g„^ge 

^trefolTXir  inherited  worship  with  stub- 
"Z:"-   resided   at   St^  Charies Jor  - 

thP  viUa-e  of  St.  Charles  in  one  day.     Ihe  numoe 
the  ^^"^-^^^^^  y^^^^  that  for  many  days  to- 

::dTtL  Mamelles  I  have  looked  over  the 

^.^  Plain  .nlte  to  t- .^erry   wh^  j^;^ 
grants  crossed  the  upper  Mississippi.     I  have 


I 


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MISSOURI  TEJIRITORY 


43 


in  this  extent  nine  wagons  hiirnessed  with  from  four 
to  six  horses.  We  may  allow  a  hundred  cattle, 
besides  hogs,  horses,  and  sheep,  to  each  wagon ; 
and  from  three  or  four  to  twent/  slaves.  The  whole 
appearance  of  the  train,  the  cattle  with  their  hundred 
bells ;  the  negroes  with  delight  in  their  countenances, 
for  their  labors  are  suspended  and  their  imaginations 
excited ;  the  wagons,  often  carrying  two  or  three 
tons,  so  loaded  that  the  mistress  and  children  are 
strolling  carelessly  along,  in  a  gait  which  enables 
them  to  keep  up  with  the  slo'*  travelUng  carriage; 
—  the  whole  group  occupies  three  quarters  of  a  mile. 
The  slaves  generally  seem  fond  of  their  masters,  and 
quite  as  much  delighted  and  interested  in  the  immi- 
gration, as  the  master.  It  is  to  me  a  very  pleasing 
and  patriarchal  scene.  .  .  .  Just  about  nightfall, 
they  come  to  a  spring  or  a  branch,  where  there  is 
water  and  wood.  The  pack  of  dogs  sets  up  a  cheer- 
ful barking.  The  cattle  lie  down  and  ruminate. 
The  team  is  unharnessed.  The  huge  waggons  are 
covered,  so  that  the  roof  completely  excludes  the 
rain.  The  cooking  utensils  are  brought  out.  The 
blacks  prepare  a  supper,  which  the  toils  of  the  day 
render  delicious ;  and  they  talk  over  the  adventures 
of  the  past  day,  and  the  prospects  of  the  next. 
Meantime,  they  are  going  where  there  is  nothing 
but  buffaloes  and  deer  to  limit  their  range,  even  to 
the  western  sea."  " 

Prosperity  was  to  be  had  on  easy  terms.  "A 
Missouri  planter,  with  a  moderate  force  and  a  good 
plantation,  can  be  as  independent  as  it  is  fit  that  we 
should  be.  .  .  .    One  of  my  iuij.iediale  neighbors,  on 


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44  \MERICAN  SETTLERS 

the  prairie  below  St.  Charles,  had  a  hired  white 
man,  a  negro,  and  two  sons  large  enough  to  begm 
to  help  him.     He  had  an  hundred  acres  enclosed 
He  raised,  the  year  that  I  came  away,  two  thousand 
four  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  eight  hundred  bushels 
of  wheat,  and  other  articles  in  proportion,  and  the 
number  of  cattle  and  hogs  that  he  might  raise  was 
indefinite ;  for  the  pasturage  and  hay  were  as  suffi- 
cient for  a  thousand  cattle  as  for  twenty.  .  .  •    Any 
person,  able  and  disposed  to  labour,  is  forever  freed 
from  the  apprehension  of  poverty.  ...    A  vigorous 
and  active  young  man  needs  but  two  years  of  per- 
sonal  labour  to  have  a  farm  ready  for  the  support  of 
a  small  family.  ...     The  soil  is  free  from  stones, 
loose  and  mellow,  and  needs  no  manure   and  it  is 
very  abundant  in  the  productions  natural  to  it,  the 
principal  of  which  are  corn,  fruits,  and  wheat.    The 
calculation  is  commonly  made,  that  two  days  ma 
week  contribute  as  much  to  support  here,  as  the 
whole  week  at  the  North."  -    Missouri  was  free 
from  the  "fever  and  ague"  that  infested  the  heavily 
timbered  lands  in  Illinois  and  aUmg  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  i.nmigrants  passed  by  those  fertile  regions 
and  pressed  on  to  the  wholesomer  country  beyond. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  colonist  Wius  whetted  and 
directed  by  the  zeal  .>f  the  speculator.  Of  the 
methods  by  which  these  latter  gentry  succeeded  m 
getting  possession  of  the  best  locations  we  are  told 
by  one  James  Flint,  a  Scotchman,  who  came  down 
the  Ohio  to  St.  Louis  in  an  open  boat  in  1819,  and 
«a^.  ,,,,,nv  things  bv  the  way.  The  public  lands  m 
Missouri  ^"  are  exposed  by  auction,  in  qtiarter  sec- 


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MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


45 


tions  of  160  acres  each.  A  considerable  part  of 
them  sold  at  from  three  to  six  dollars  per  acre. 
Lots,  not  sold  at  auction,  may  be  subsequently 
bought  at  the  land-office  for  two  dollars  per  acre, 
on  paying  half  a  dollar  in  ready  money  and  the 
remainder  within  five  years.  Land  dealers  are  very 
vigilant  in  securing  for  themselves  great  (juantities 
of  the  best  land.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  rccon- 
noitering  parties  of  them  to  lodge  in  the  woods  for  a 
whole  week.  By  such  means  much  of  the  best  land, 
mill-seats  and  other  local  advantages,  are  withdrawn 
from  the  market  at  the  first  public  sales.  .  .  .  The 
most  advantageous  purchases  are  considered  to  be 
those  on  the  edges  of  prairies,  with  a  part  of  the 
open  !    ^d,  and  a  part  of  the  woods."" 

The  lurmers  of  Missouri,  as  in  other  pioneer  com- 
munities, were  h,  avily  indebted  to  the  older  and 
wealthier  states  east  of  the  Alleghanies  for  the 
capital  with  which  to  purchase  and  improve  their 
lands.  The  crisis  of  1819  and  the  consequent  cur- 
taihnent  of  credit  was  an  unprecedented  calamity. 
The  local  banks,  which  had  been  doing  business  on 
the  wildcat  plan,  failed  one  and  all,  and  their  notes 
were  valueless.  There  was  no  specie  in  the  country, 
and  the  most  thriving  towns  were  suddenly  reduced 
to  barter.  The  newly  organized  state  legislature 
resorted  to  a  desj)erate  expedient.  An  issue  of 
.S2,i)0(),000  in  certificates  of  indebtedness  was 
authorizeil,  and  this  state  currency  was  declared 
rocoivable  f{<r  taxes  and  all  obligations  to  the  treasury 
including  royalties  from  the  salt  works.  The  cer- 
tificatt'H  were  none  the  less  in  contravention  ot  the 


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46  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  were  declared 
invalid  by  the  courts.    Settlers  who  had  taken  up 
government  land  on  the  credit  system  were  in  dire 
straits,  for  no  matter  how  productive  their  farms, 
they  could  get  no  money  with  which  to  pay  the 
installments  a.  they  fell  due.    Congress  came  to 
their  relief  by  extending  the  time  of  payment  and 
by  cancelling  such  portion  of  the  obUgation  as  might 
be  deducted  on  account  of  lands  surrendered.    In 
marked  exception  to  the  general  bankruptcy,  showed 
the  German  settlements;    these  sturdy  immigrants 
had  refused  to  touch  the  bank  money  and  insisted 
on  receiving  all  payments  in  specie. 

The  environment   of   the   pioneer  farmer  is  de- 
scribed by  Edward  Flagg,  a  Cincinnati  journalist  o 
New  England  antecedents  who  visited  Illinois  and 
Missouri  in  1836.     "There  are  few  objects  to  be 
met  with  in  the  backwoods  of  the  West  more  unique 
and  picturesque  than  the  dwelling  of  the  emigrant. 
After  selecting  an  elevated  spot  as  a  site  for  build- 
ing, a  cabin  or  log  house  -  which  is  somewhat  of  an 
improvement    upon    the    fir  t  -is   erected    in    the 
following  manner.     A  sufficient  number  of  straight 
trees   of  a  size  convenient  for  removing,  are  felled, 
slightly  hewn  upon  the  opposite  sides,  anrt  the  e.:- 
trcmities  notched  or  mortised  with  the  axe.     They 
are  then  piled  upon  earh  other  so  that  the  extremities 
look  tog.Hher ;   and  a  sin«le  or  double  edifice  is  con- 
structed,  agreeable  to  the  ta-ste  or  ability  of  the 
builder      Ordinarilv  the  cabin  consists  of  two  (luad- 
rangular   apartments,   separate.!   by   a  broad   area 
between,  connected  by  a  comm..n  floor,  and  covend 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


47 


by  a  common  roof,  presenting  a  parallelogram  triple 
the  length  of  its  width.     The  better  of  these  apart- 
ments is  usually  appropriated  to  the  entertainment 
of  the  casual  guest,  and  is  furnished  with  several 
beds  and  some  articles  of  rude  furniture  to  corre- 
spond.   The   open   area   constitutes    the   ordinary 
sitting  and  eating  apartment  of  the  family  in  fine 
weather ;  and,  from  its  coolness,  affords  a  delightful 
retreat.     The  intervals  between  the  logs  are  stuffed 
with  fragments  of  wood  or  stone,  and  plastered  with 
mud  or  mortar,   and  the  chimney  is  constructed 
much  in  the  same  manner.     The  roof  is  covered  with 
thin  clapboards  of  oak  or  ash,  and,  in  lieu  of  nails, 
transverse  pieces  of   timber  retain   them  in  their 
places.     Thousands  of  cabins  are  thus  constructed, 
without  a  particle  of  iron  or  even  a  common  plank. 
The  rough  clapboards  give  to  the  roof  almost  the 
shaggy  aspect  of  thatch  at  a  little  distance,  but  they 
render  it  impermeable  to  even  the  heaviest  and 
most  protracted  rain-storms.     A  rude  gallery  often 
extends  along  one  or  both  sides  of  the  building,  add- 
ing much  to  its  coolness  in  summer  and  to  its  warmth 
in  winter  by  the  protection  afforded  from  sun  and 
snow.     The    floor    is    constructed    of    short,    thick 
ph'iiks,  technically  termed  'puncheons,'  which  are 
confinod    by    wooden    pins;     and,    though    hardly 
smooth   enough    for  a  ball-room,    yet    well    answer 
cvory  purpose  for  a  dwelling,  and  effectually  resist 
moisture  and  cold.     The  apertures  are  usually  cut 
wit!;  a  view  to  free  ventilation,  and  the  chimneys 
stand  at  the  extremities  outside  the  walls  of  the 
A  few  pounds  of  nails,  a  i\.w  boxes  of  glass. 


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48  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

a  tew  hunted  feet  of  lumber,  and  a  few  days  a««ist- 
L^^e  of  a  house  earpentcr,  would,  of  course,  con  r.b- 
r  not   a  aule  to  the  comfort  of  ««  ...lu^ 

hut  neither  of  these  are  indispensable.   »       the  tux 
Mtu^  of  the  apartment  consisted  of  two  plank- 
tons designed  for  bedsteads,  which  w,  h  a^^l 
clothes-press,  divers  rude  boxes,  and  a  side-saddle 
occupied  a  .  etter  moiety  of  the  area;  while  a  rouRh 
tabk   a  shelf  against  the  wall,  upon  which  stood  a 
w":;-pail.  a  gturd,  and  a  few  broken  tre.ehe. 
completed    the   house-hold    paraphernalia   o     this 
mosrunique  of  habitations.    .\  half-consumed  fhtch 
rtbac™    uspended  in  the  chimney,  and  a  huge  iron 
pot  upon  the  Br-,  from  which  issued  a  -ory  indi- 
cation of  the  seething  mess  withm,  completes  the 
S  m-life  •  of  a,e  picture." '.    "  In  rear  of  the  prem^s 
rise  the  out-buildi„gs ;  stables,  eorn-cnb,  meat-hou« 
e C,  all  of  them  „ui,e  as  ^rfect  in  structure  as  the 
dwe  ling  itself,  and  .,ui.e  as  comfortable  tor  residence 
to  all  this  we  add  a  well,  walled  up  with  a  section  o 
a  hollow  cotton-wood,  a  cellar  or  cave  m  the  earth  for 
nantrv  a  zigzag  rail  fence  enclosing  the  whole  clear- 
„"  Xen  acL  of  Indian  com  bristling  up  l.yond, 
a  small  garden  and  orchard,  and  a  host  of  swine 
cattle    and  naked  children  about  the  door,  and  (he 
L(c  ',„,c,Mc  of  a  back-woods  farmhouse  is  com- 
nlete  The  present  mode  of  cultivation  sweeps 

,n  v'astMuan.ilicsof  timber:  but  it  must  soon  be 
"upel^edell.  11..US..S  of  biick  and  stone  wil  take  the 
Place  of  log-cabins;  hedge-rows  will  supply  tha  of 
1!!°;  „,el„st-s.  while  coal  tor  fuel  will  he  a  substi- 
tutr  for  wood."  '^ 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


49 


Missouri  offered  great  attractions  to  the  pioneer 
farmer.    The  land  in  the  river-bottoms,  where  the 
rich  black  loam  had  accumulated  to  a  depth  of 
thirty  feet,  was  of  phenomenal  fertiUty,  while  the 
ridges  of  flint  and  Umestone  that  divided  the  river 
courses  in  the  southern  portion  afforded  excellent 
pasture.     Here    were    thousands    of    acres    of    the 
rank  native  herbage  to  which  the  oak  trees,  grown 
hoary  in  the  course  of  centuries,  gave  a  parklike 
beauty.     There   was   little  of   the   malaria-infested 
swamp-land  that  was  the  bane  of  settlers  on  the 
lower  Mississippi.     The  climate  was  dry  and  whole- 
some and  the  temperature  quite  uniform,  avoiding 
the  severe  winters  of  New  England  and  the  hot  sum- 
mers  of   Louisiana.     All   the   cereals,  corn,  wheat, 
rye,  and  oats,  were  successfully  grown.     ( 'orn  was 
especially  prolific,  running  up  to  a  height  of  twenty 
foot  and  bearing  ninety  bushels  to  the  acre.     Flax, 
homp,  and  tobacco  did  well  in  the  rich  bottom  lands 
where   the   nitrogenous  elements   of  the  soil   were 
renewed  by  yearly  floods.     .\  farmer's  family  was 
self-sustaining  so  far  as  bread  and  meat,  fruit  and 
vegetables  were  concerned,  and  might  even  make 
shift    to   provide    sufficient    clothing,     ("otton    was 
grown  in  the  southern  districts  "for  family  use,  not 
for  market,"  and  a  coarse  cotton  cloth  was  woven 
by  the  women  of  the  household.     If  the  settlement 
was  near  a  navigable  river,  the  surjilus  stock  of  grain, 
salt  meat,  and  live  stock  might  be  got  to  market, 
but   the  demand   for  farm   products   was  limited. 
Only  the  few  flatbontn  that  reach(Ml  New  Orleans 
early  in  the  season  could  command  paying  prices  and 

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50  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

later  cargoes  were  often  sold  at  loss.   J^  cultiva- 
tion extended,  prices  of  food-stuffs  fell  below  the 
cost  of  production,  and  the  sale  of  the  grain  boats 
barely  covered  the  expenses  of  the  voyage.    The 
farmers  were  therefore  obliged  to  live  off  their  own 
and  abjure  imported  goods.   Tea,  coffee,  and  foreign 
sugar  were  high-priced  luxuries,  indulged  m  spar- 
ingly by  all  but  the  few  who  had  money  to  spend. 
Manufactures  were  developing,   however,  with  the 
increase  in  local  demand.    Flour-mills  and  distilleries 
sawmills  and  tan-yards,  were  among  the  first,  but 
carding  machines,  fulling  and  cloth  mills  soon  fol- 
lowed.   These  last  were  on  Big  River  and  were  run 
by  water-power.22 

The  very  abundance  of  the  natural  resources  of 
the  country  proved  a  detriment.     Soil,  timber,  and 
nuneral  wealth  were  exploited  as  if  the  supply  was 
limitless.     Waste  of  timber  had    some  justification 
among  the  pioneers  east  of  the  Mississippi  where 
trees  stood  in  the  way  of  cultivation  and  shut  out 
the  air  and  sunlight  on  which  health  depended; 
but  here  on  the  margin  of  a  treeless  region,  needless 
destruction   of   the   forest    growth   was   manifestly 
disastrous.     Nevorthcloss.  the  pines  and  oaks  were 
remorselessly  foiled,  and  every  settlement  showoc 
what   FUnt   called   a  "Kentucky   outline  of  dead 
trees,  and  huge  logs  lying  on  all  sides  in  the  fields. 
Underbrush    was    fired    with    wanton    carelessness, 
and  thousands  of  acres  of  pasture  went  up  in  smoke. 
\  light  wind  served  to  carry  the  conflagration    o  a 
great  disla.u-e.  and  c.ftcn  travellorK  over  thp  tenantlons 
plains  were  overtaken  by  the  flames  and  destroyed. 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


51 


The  mineral  deposits  were  treated  with  the  same 
careless  disregard  of  the  future.     In  1780,  one  of 
the  hunters  (named  Burton  or  Breton),  left  at  Ste. 
Genevieve  by  Renault,  literally  stumbled  upon  a 
surface  deposit  of  lead  and,  recognizing  its  value, 
gave  notice  of  his  find  to  the  authorities.     During 
the  Spanish  regime,  a  little  ore  was  brought  to  Ste. 
Genevieve  and  smelted  in  an  open  log  furnace,  but 
by  this  crude  process  hardly  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
metal  was  extracted.    This  was  sent  down  the  river 
in  pig,  and  no  manufactures  were  attempted.     In 
1797,   Moses  Austin,   a   Connecticut   Yankee  who 
had  had  some  experience  of  lead  mining  on  New 
River,  in  Virginia,  brought  his  family  and  his  slaves 
to  this  region  and,  having  secured  a  league-square 
land  grant  from  Carondelet,   began  operations  at 
Mine  a  Burton.     He  introduced  scientific  methods 
of  smelting,  erected  a  reverberatory  furnace  and  a 
shot  tower,  and  shipped  shot  and  sheet  lead  to  New 
Orleans  and  Ha\  ana.     Other  American  settlers  dis- 
covered Mine  -k  Robin,   Mine  h  Martin,  etc.,  and 
it   soon    became    evident    that    a   very    important 
mineral  region,  three  thousand  square  miles  in  ex- 
tent,  lay  in  the  hills  between  the  sources   of  the 
Big  and  St.   Francis  rivers.     Silver  and  zinc  were 
mingled  with  the  lead.    Iron  Mountain,  a  ridge  from 
five  to  six  hundred  feet  high,  was  largely  composed 
of   iron   of   excellent    quality,   while    C^hartier   and 
(V<iar    Creek    furnished    water-power  adequate   to 
"drive  any  number  of  forges."     Black  manganese, 
alum,  and  saltpetre  wern  alsn  abundant,  and  only  cap- 
ital was  needed  to  develop  industries  of  the  first  order. 


ill 


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AMERICAN  SETTLEBS 


f;i 


52 

The  new  arrivals  regarded  the  tnineral  resources 
of^:  territory  as  free  to  aJl  American  c^t..ns^ 
Miners  worked  on  their  own  account  »'  '»''«» 
companies  and  were  content  to  raise  the  surface 
ZS  with  pickaxe  and  ^^x-vel  never  usmg^y- 
thing  more  elaborate  than  a  bucket  and  windl^s. 
men  at  a  depth  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet  a  bed  of  Ume- 
Tne  wa3  encountered,  the  diggings  were  abandoned 
»d  a  new  bed  was  sought  for,  until  the  whd^eg^n 
was  torn  up  with  prospectors'  holes.    Schoo  cralt 
r  gl^logist,  who  made  a  study  of  the  region  m 
1810  protested  against  this  extravagance        Much 
ime  is  thus  consumed,  in  hunting  new  beds  of  ore 
Teh  it  spent  in  labour  upon  the  old  ones  wou.a 
be  found  infinitely  more  advantageous.    Thus  a 
Hnd  of  laziness  is  created ;- they  who  spend  th 

C:TtV:  r^hS  crir^  ^  ^f 

raff-— LrCan^l^^P^--;- 
below  the  rock  ledge.    It  was  .wident  that  the  reek 
lotdrift-mining  menaced  the  future  of  the  mdustry 
but  there  were  tow  men  in  the  field  who  had  cap  tal 
"  y  to  wo,-:  a  force  of  slaves  under  scent.hc 
d  rietion     The  ordinary  miner  sold  the  ore  he  raised 
tThe  proprietor  of  a  furnace  for  »2  per  hundred- 
weight and  realizeil  onan  average $2  a  day,-nomore 
than  the  wage  of  a  skilled  mechanic  in  ""'neighbor- 
hood    The  rock,  cleaned  of  spar,  was  smelted  in  ai. 
open-henrth  furnace  which  was  fircl  by  1ob>  and  kept 
at  a  steady  and  increasing  heat  for  twenty-four  hours. 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


53 


when  the  lead  was  run  off.  Much  of  the  metal 
remained  in  the  ashes,  perhaps  Ifty  per  cent,^^  but 
the  process  was  inexpensive.  The  open  hearth  was 
built  of  loose  stones,  cost  but  $50  to  $60,  and  re- 
quired only  three  men  to  run  it  —  one  to  fetch  wood 
and  two  to  guard  the  fire  in  alternate  watches  — 
whereas  the  ash  furnace  cost  $100  and  necessitated 
more  skill.  The  pigs  were  carded  to  Ste.  Genevieve 
or  Herculaneum  and  sold  to  merchants,  who  shipped 
the  metal  down  the  river  or  converted  it  into  shot 
for  sale  to  the  fur  companies  of  St.  Louis. 

The  first  shot-tower  was  put  up  by  Jean  Maklot 
in  1809,  the  second  by  Moses  Austin  the  year  fol- 
lowing. Schoolcraft  describes  the  process  used. 
"A  considerable  proportion  of  the  lead  made  in  this 
[Missouri]  Territory  is  manufactured  into  shot. 
There  are  3  shot  towers  in  the  vicinity  of  Hercu- 
laneum, where  shot  is  made  by  letting  it  fall  down 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  The  banks  at  this 
place  consist  of  limestone,  which  forms  a  perpendicu- 
lar bluff  of  about  100  feet  immediately  at  the  water's 
edge,  both  above  and  below  the  town.  On  this 
bluff  a  small  wooden  tower  is  erected,  with  a  furnace 
and  kettles  for  preparing,  smelting,  and  casting  the 
load,  and  having  a  projection  in  front,  from  which 
the  lead  is  dropped  into  a  receptacle  witii  water 
below,  where  there  is  another  building  and  apparatus 
for  glazing  and  polishing.  The  lead,  previous  to 
being  dropped,  is  prepared  by  mixing  with  it  a 
small  quantity  of  arsenic,  which  renders  it  more 
fluui  in  ca.sting,  and  increases  its  hardness  when 
cold.    It  is  melted  in  an  iron  pot  in  the  upper  part 


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54  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

of  the  tower,  and  poured  into  a  copper  sieve,  made 
tyl:Z..n,  a  Jpper  pan  full  of  holes  of  the  .ze 
Ji  the  shot,  through   which  the  globules   of   flu^d 
lead  drop  into  the  cistern  below.    By  the  tune  they 
each  the  water  they  have  become  sufhcienUy  cool  to 
preserve  the.  globular  shapes.    Shot  of  the  largest 
size  require  to  be  dropped  from  the  greatest  height 
ay    40  feet,  while  the  small  sizes  are  only  suffered 
to  fall  about  90  feet.    One  man  will  smelt  and  ca.t, 
1  tefthe  lead  is  prepared  by  alloying  it  with  arsemc 
from  4  to  5000  lbs.  per  day.    To  pohsh  these  will 
occupy  him  nine  days.    The  polishing  is  done  by 
S  a  quantity  of  shot  into  a  hollow  cylindnc^ 
vooden  vessel  or  barrel,  which  is  fixed  on  a  shait 
and  turned  by  a  crank.     The  action  o    the  shot 
against    each    other,    converts    them   into    perfect 
pheres,  and  a  little  plumbago  which  is  added  gives 
them  a  gloss,  in  which  state  they  are  ready  for 

"^' An'improvement  has  lately  been  made  here  by 
Mr    Elias  Bates,  which  facilitates  the  casting  of 
shot,  and  supersedes  the  necessity  of  using  a  sieve 
He  has  a  ladle  of  cast  iron,  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelo- 
gram,  but  smaller  at   the  bottom  than  the  top- 
The  two  longest,  being  opposite  sides  of  this  ladle 
are  perforated  with  holes  near,  and  at  an  equal 
di'-tance  from,  the  top,  so  that  by  canting  the  ladle 
a  little  either  way,  the  shot  drop  through,  and  aj, 
the  ladle  is  smallest  at  the  bottom,  are  not  at  all 
uuppdod  on  their  way  to  the  cistern  below.     The 
quantitv  of  shot  made  here  for  IS  months,  ending 
1st  June,    1817,    wa«    008,350  lbs.      The   present 


MISSOJRI  TERRITORY 


55 


isiness,  I  am 


price  of  shot  is  $7.50  per  cwt.     The 
told,  has  been  very  profitable."  ^6 

Austin  estimated  the  yield  from  the  Mine  ^  Bur- 
ton from  1798  to  1804,  at  300,000  pounds  per  annum; 
from   1804  to  1808,  at   800,000  pounds,  and  from' 
that  date  to  1816,  the  year  of  his  report  to  the  gov- 
ernment, at  500,0i  0.     The  total  production  since  his 
coming  to  the  country  he  estimated  at  approxi- 
mately   9,360,000    pounds.     Schoolcraft    estimated 
the  output  of  1819  for  the  whole  region  at  4,971,000 
pounds  anH   thought   the  gross  product   since   the 
acquisition  of  Louisiana  might  be  put  nt  55,000,000, 
a  sum   total  which   at  four  cents  a  pound  nuist 
have  brought  in  $3,000,000,— one-fifth  of  the  pur- 
chase price.    The  number  of  men  employed —minors, 
teamsters,  blacksmiths,  woodcutters  —  was  approxi- 
mately 1130  in  1819,  and  in  the  four  years  of  maxi- 
mum production  the  number  had  been  considerably 
larger.     There  were  forty-five  lead  mines  and  thirty- 
four  furnaces,  while  the  shot  towers  crowned  every 
point  of   vantage  on   thr    bluffs   of   Herculaneum. 
Load  mining  was  an  industry  that  rivalled  the  fur 
trade  in  industrial  importance,  if  not  in  dramatic 
interest. 

Kven  more  essential  to  tho  prosperity  of  the 
frontier,  though  representing  loss  capital  and 
smaller  revenue,  were  the  numerous  salt-w  .rks. 
Salines  were  more  frequent  and  extensive  w.  sf  ,,f 
the  Mississippi  because  of  the  lichter  raiiUall  and 
groater  proportion  of  sunshine  inducing  evaporation. 
The  brine,  whetlu-r  found  in  swamps,  lakes,  m 
«pnngs,   was  reduced   by   boiling   in   open   kettles. 


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5j  AMERICAN   SETTLERS 

and  there  was  no  attempt  at  refining.    Fifty  or 
Txty  g  Uons  of  brine  were  sufficient  to  p^duee  on 
r  L  nf  salt  whicli  sold  in  the  neighborhood  at  $1 
pe":'ihe      ol  the  Saline  Fork  of  Le  Mine  River 
rjre  ^It-works  where  Braxton  Cooper  wa»  gettmg 
"Tone  hundred  bushels  a  week,  and  on  Camp 
Fork  a  Mr.  Lockhart  was  manufactur,ng  five  hun- 
lork,  a  wr.  emptied  mto 

dred  bushels.    The  Sa  me  ^  fu.nished 

the  Mississipp.  lus^  ^^^^f^iSX  necessity  of 
the  people  <>' .  h'''/'^"'^;;,  „„,  hundred  miles 
'"";h''f  TZr'«e  exrenJively  worked,  while 
;THch  saUn^o^Des  Moines  River  were  attrac. 
\.     ^;«n      \  law  of  1807  reserved  from  sale 

reh^rLdi:w„posed^^^^^^^^^^ 
;afr'a:^r;':::i-oU'roy..to.e 

U-ent.    Apparently  th.  -;-t^:tj:i 

"::ot:rrrrr>^:t;:dimcuityofen 

;:rnTthe  law  was  so  great  that  the  restnct.on  was 

"lir  t^;ioneer  industr^s  whe.^ 

put  was  salt,  lead,  furs,  flour,  cotton,  or  tobacco^ 

!teap  transportation  was  e».sential  to  succe  s.    The 

eSry  offered  tew  obstaeles  to  -d-buddrng  bu 

Z  pullic  authorities  had  -->;--;  'V'::; 

to  finance  such  e.>lerpr.ses.  and  tb-"  ^^ 

seem  pressing.    Prairie  schooners  ■"■«"  ^    d  .;  '. 

over  the  highest  ridges,  and  emigrant  Parties  'o 

U^ed  the  beaten  track  or  deviated  from  .t  u.^  IK 

eTnvenience.    There  were  two  great  roads  leadn.g 


JIL'^ 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 

to  the  Red  River  settlements  and  beyond,  worn 
wide  and  plain  by  droves  of  cattle  and  horses,  emi- 
grant carts  and  freight  wagons;  but  the  costs  of 
land  carriage  were  prohibitive  for  agricultural 
produce,  and  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was 
dependent,  as  still  older  conmiunities  were,  on  water 
transportation.  The  all-i'rnortant  avenues  of  trade 
and  travel  were  the  ri^r     --  „ot  only  the  Mississippi 


and  the   Missouri,  b  '*   i    -rr   ir 
St.  Francis,  the  M«,.;;  u      t\"-  i):, 
Osage  —  by  which   li  •.!;<.<    ;  .  . 
might  make  its  v  My     ,  a  >.';;-: 
Mississippi   to   7^'.     ()>•        ,  i    x 
people  of  Ste.  Gen  ••  --' ,    -    -c  ■.■ , 
the  opening  of  a  waicr  vo  lU^  t 


n-     such  as  the 

'    ide,  and  the 

'(«  ^out  canoe 

inv  I  ur  down  the 

(■■leans."    The 

~'T':    anticipating 

^'  n  of  the  lUinois 


River  and  Lake  Michigor.      ;h  Oo!r  .t  and  Buflfalo, 
_.id  thence  via  the  new  Erie  Canal  with  Utica  and 
New  York.     The  scheme  seemed  entirely  practicable 
to  Schoolcraft.     "The  river  Plein,  the  main  head 
fork  of  Illinois,   approaches  so  near  the  head  of 
Chicago   River,    which    enters    Lake   Michigan   at 
Fort  Dearborn,  that  a  communication  exists  in  high 
water.    I  conversed  with  a  trader  last  summer  at 
St.  Louis,  who  had  come  through  in  the  spring, 
and  afterward  saw  his  boat  lying  at  the  wh  -f.     It 
carried  from  4  to  6  tons,  and  was  built  skiffs  ^^hion, 
with  a  flat  bottom.     He  represented  the  ur  .lertaking 
as  easy  of  execution,  not  reqn.iring  an  artificial  cut 
of  more  than  2  miles,  and  this  through  an  alluvial 

soil."  28 

The  Mississippi  was  the  great  highway  on  which 
all  trafTic  converged,  and  craft  of  every  description, 


^'tVI 


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58  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

from  the  rough  home-made  scows  and  dugoute  to 
L  flatboats  and  keels  that  held  tons  of  merchan- 
dise thronged  the  river  front  at  every  port  from  ht. 
iTuls  to  /e.  Orleans.    Various  improvemen  »  we. 
bcinR  made  in  the  primitive  models.       It  is  now 
colon    to  see    flatboats    worked    by   a    bucket 
:.h"l,  and  a  horse  power,  after  the  f.sh.on  of  steanv- 
boat  movement.    Indeed,  every  spnng  bnngs  o   h 
now  contrivances  of  this  -H,  the  r^uH  of  the 
farmer's  meditations  over  his  winters  ftre. 

Hint  de^crite  this  traffic  at  New  Madnd:  In 
„„e  place  there  are  boats  loaded  wi'ti  Planks  rom 
,1,0  pine  forests  of  the  southwest  of  New  York. 
In  another  ouarter  iliere  are  the  Yankee  notions  of 
Ohi!;.,  from  Kentucky,  pork.  Sour,  whiskey  hemp 
,.,„aec:o,  bagging,  and  Kile  rope;    from  »  ee 

there  are  the  same  "'-"■\'!"«^"'"  J."  ,,f, f*' 
ouantities  of  cotton ;  from  Missouri  and  Illinois, 
Zl  and  hor«.s,  the  same  articles  generally  a. 
from  Ohio,  together  with  peltry  and  lead  from 
Missouri.  Some  boats  are  loaded  with  corn  in  the 
„„.  „,„,  ,,  ,,„„;  .,„,ors  with  barrels  "'  aPP-  ;""| 

„„„„„.    Some  have  loails  of  cider,  and  what  .  u  y 
^H -cider  ro  .al.' or  cider  that  has  been  strength,  ud 

;',oi,in«orfree.in..  There  are  dried  fnids  every 
ki,ul..(  spirits  manotaelurcl  in  these  regions,  and 
Lhor,.,hepr,.d„c,sof.lieingen,,iWan.agnc,l- 

turcot. be  whole  upper  country..!  the  W.,.    T 

,,„vc, ,e  (roin  r,.gi..ns  .h.msa,i.ls  ..t  niiUypar  . 

•n„.v  have  fi..ate.l  I.,  a  c..n.m..n  l».int  of  u"""' 
Th,-  sor(a,-s  ..t  ibe  b,.u.s  ,-,ver  s..me  aer.-.     DuiW" 
1,111  fowls  ar.-  (Iiill.'ring  over  tb.-  r.»,fs,  as  an  la- 


't!^^t 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY  59 

variabk    appendage.     The    chanticleer    raises    his 
piercing  note.    The  swine   utter  thoir  cries.    The 
cattle  low.     The  horses  trample,  as  in  their  stables. 
There  are  boats  fitted  on  purpose,  and  loaded  en- 
tirely with  turkeys,  that,  having  little  else  to  do, 
gobble   most   furiously.     The   hands    travel   about 
from  boat  to  boat,  make  inquiries,  and  acquaint- 
ances, and  form  alliances  to  yield  mutual  assistance 
to  each  other,  on  their  descent  from  this  to  Now 
Orleans.    .    .    .      The    fleet    unites    once    more    at 
Natchez,  or  New  Orleans,  and,  although  they  live  on 
the  same  river,  they  may  perhaps  never  meet  each 
other  again  on  the  earth."  "^    Some  of  these  flat- 
boats  were  fitted  up  as  dram-shops,  others  as  dry 
g(HMls  stores,  and  in  others  mechanics  plied   their 
respective  trades.     "While  I  was  at  .^ew  Madrid  " 
••oiitinues    Flint,    "a    large    linnerV    establishment 
Hoated    there   in   a   boat.     In    it   all    the   difTerent 
articles  of  tin-wai     were  manufactured  and  si^t'  by 
wholesale  and  n>tail."     Aboard  another  boat  •'were 
manufactured  axes,  scythes,  and  all  i.ther  iron  tools 
t>f  this  description,  and  in  it  horses  were  shod. 
It  was  a  complete  blacksmith's  shop."     'Vhv  settlers 
naturally  clung  to  the  rivers  where  w.mmI  and  water 
were  to  be  had  in  abundance  and  where  alone  cheap 
transportation  wer(«  available  for  surplus  products. 

The  movement  of  population  into  the  lar  West 
was  greatly  accelerated  by  the  sul)stitutlon  of  st  'am 
f'Toar  and  cordelh  on  the  river  boats.  Tt.t-  first 
steamer  destined  for  use  on  western  waters  (the 
■\nr  (Haim)  was  built  at  Pittsburgh  in  Ism  by 
N'"lu.las    H(K»sevelt    at    a    cost    (»f    «a,S.(HM).     The 


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80  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

cautious  New  Yorker  did  not  -^  hi«  ves^elto  the 
vagaries  of  river  navigation  unt,l  he  had  fir>,t  gone 
Ihe'whole  length  of  the  Ohio  and  M..ssW  -  - 
WeeUboat.     ^hc  tria,  trip  w.^»de  ,n  .M 
complete  success,  but   the  steanur  wa 
burned  as  she  lay  at  anchor  by  the  wharf    n  IS  . 
Orleans      Other  steamboats  were  soon  buU,  how 
^vt  at  the  ship  yards  of  Pittsburgh,  Wheehng,  and 
Cincinnati.    The  first  voyage  up-strean.  was  made 
br  he  Enterprise  in  1815,  the  distance  of  one  thou- 
sand  nxiles   between   New   Orleans   and    Lomsvdl 
"ng  covered  in  twenty-five  days.     .X  barge  manned 

yTw^ntytoth^ 
/dav  up-str.nn.  whereas  a  stcnuner  easdy  accom- 

.Ushed    on.    hundred.     The    superior    speed    and 
'ocuritv  ..f   the   new   motor   once   assured    hues   o 
packet'b...     were  established,  and   all   who  could 

afTord    a    -ash    fare    aban.loned    the    slower    craft. 
Tinv>thv  Hint  estimated  llSlS,tlmttlu>  steamers 

had  thrown  ten  thous;  nd  flatboats  an.l  keel-boa  . 
„ut  of  .mplo.v.nent.     Sch.H>lcraft  gives  a  hst  of  tlu 
fiftv  .teanil>..ats  that  were  running  on  the  M.ss.ss.piH 
a,,!  its  tributaries  in  ISIO  with  a  registered  tonnage 
of  imS      Steamboats  were  then  building  that  would 
r,i.,.  the  total  number  to  sixty-threo.      "two  .  .     at 
,.i„.lH,rgh.   ..ne  at    ^Vi..eliMg.   on<.  at    Steubenvdle, 
,.„oat   Marietta,  two  at   ( •incinnati.  one  at   l  mr.k- 
ford.  two  at  Sl.ippingport.  one  at  Madison,  and  two 

at  New  .Mbanv-     V^wh  boat  nuule  o..  the  average 
turn-  trip<  a  v.ar  to  and  fn>m  New  (Means,  loaded 

with  fn.ght   and  pa^M-nge,-<,     KreiuM   .-hMrges  frou, 
Pittsburgh  to  New  Orlean.  wen.  one  c-nt  a  i.ound, 


Wr'^mim 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


61 


from  New  Orleans  to  Pitt.sburgh,  four  cents.  Pas- 
senger rates  down-stream  were  $00,  up-stream,  $100. 
Each  boat  carried  on  an  average  ten  passengers 
down-stream  and  five  up.  On  this  basis,  Schoolcraft 
reckoned  the  total  annual  revenue  for  freight  and 
pa.ssengers  at  $2,405, 7(X)."  Wharves  of  the  Ohio 
and  Missis.<ippi  river  towns  were  still  lined  with 
keel  l)oats  and  barges,  b.owever,  and  much  of  the 
produce  was  carried  to  market  in  flat-bottomed 
boats,  "of  u  temporary  construction,  which  were 
not  calculated  to  ascend  the  stream  and  were  gen- 
erally sold  for  a  trifle  or  abandoned."  ■'•' 

In  1824  Congress  approjjriated  .S1{):>,0()0  for  the 
improvement  of  navigation  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
Captain  Henry  M.  Slucve  was  placed  in  charge  of 
the  work.     Under  his  skilful  management,  the  snags 
and  drifting  tre(>s,  the  "sawyers"  and  "planters,"" 
the  sand  bars  and  sunken  rocks,  that  had  long  been 
the  dr(>ad  of  pilots,  were  removed,  and  arrangements 
were  made  for  the  systematic  survey  of  the  channel 
s'»  tiiat  the  annual  accretions  might  be  weeded  out 
v.ar  by  yrar.     The  tributary  rivers,  the  Missouri, 
Arkansas.  ;ind   HcmI,  wer(>  dealt  with   in  turn.     The 
rnuoval  of  the  C.reat  Raff  from  Red  River  doublp<l 
•he  stretch   of   !i:iviua!)I(.   \vat(>r.    and    the   grateful 
I'<*i'ple  ua!n.'(l  thrir  westernmost  s(>tllement  Shreve- 
I>"ii.     KIm^-  .l(w,.,.ii.,.si'  tl,,.  operations  of  a  machine 
invented  by  C.-ipl.tin  Sl.reve  which  extracted  snags 
;'t  MI.  avera-e  cost   of  S|2  to  SI,',  otu-h,  afid  which 

•he   vhvr   men    ii     verently   dubbed    "  Cncle   Sam's 
Toi.ili-p,|||,>r  •• 

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62  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

difficult  and  less  remunerative.    The  up-stream  pull 
from  Cairo  to  St.  Louis  was  a  serious  addition  to  the 
cost  of  a  voyage,  but  it  wa«  soon  warranted  by  trade. 
The  arrival  of  the  first  steamboat,  the  General  Pike 
(1817)  was  regarded  by  the  people  of  St.  Louis  as  the 
opening  of  an  era  of  commercial  greatness.     The  corn 
and  (lour,  salt  pork  and  beef,  produced  by  the  Mis- 
souri farmers  began  to  be  shipped  down  the  Missis- 
sippi bv  reliable  traders,  and  the  planters  of  the  lower 
river  abandoned  the  production  of  their  own  sup- 
plier and  concentrated  their  working  force  on  their 
L.st  remunerative   erop.     Moreover,  the  transpor- 
,,ac.n  of  etnigrants  was  soon  a  consider  ablebusin^s. 
^rhe   steanu.r   on   which   Flagg  went   to   St^  Lou.> 
stopped  at  "a  d  solate-looking  spot  up  ""  the  M|_- 
s<,ur   shore"  in  order  to  deposit  a  party  of  settlers 
..„u.n,  won>on,  and  little  ones,  with  slaves  household 
stuff,  pots,  kettles,  dogs,  implements  of  ^.^.^Iry, 
and  all  the  paraphernalia  c,f  the  backwood  s  farm. 

The  risks  of  navigation  .m  the  Missouri  were  even 
pvnter  than  those  offered  by  the  Mississippi.     The 
.VMuent  floods,  the  rapid  shiftings  of  the  bed,  th 
oav  ngs  of  the  bank  and  the  su<l.len  formation  of  sarvl 
hars  fre<,uentlv  upset  the  caleulations  of  the  most  e  - 
,:.,.uJl  pilut,  and  it  was  the  univer^d  eus  om 
i,  ,.,,  for  the  night.     The  swiftness  of    he  current 
,„d   IH.  weight  ..f  the  silt-laden  water  made  necessm-v 

lrep<>werfulemnnesand.lngh.rex,..hturefo 

fuel  than  were  reMuirn!..,- the  ()hio  and  Mississip 

,„,„.       V   5:luekv  little   Ui^..Urln.lrnn,.in,.r,umd^ 
!;:;trip.>r.u.i;iin.ndC1.nt.nmMavJK,.K.> 

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miles  an  hour,  succeeded  in  reaching  Council  Bluffs 
in  the  following  month ;  but  the  transports  built  at 
St.  Louis  for  the  Yellowstone  Expedition  could  not 
stem  the  current.  For  many  years  thereafter  the 
only  steamers  seen  on  the  upper  Missouri  were  sent 
out  by  the  American  Fur  Company.  Chouteau's 
boat,  the  Yellowstone,  ascended  the  Missouri  to  its 
junction  with  the  Milk  in  1831,  and  for  fifteen  years 
thereafter,  until  184G,  an  annual  trip  was  made  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  men  and  supplies  to  the  vari- 
ous posts.  For  the  transportation  of  furs  and  buffalo 
hides  downstream,  however,  the  reliance  was  still  on 
the  Mackinaw  boat  which,  loaded  to  the  gunwales, 
made  one  hundred  miles  a  day  and  required  a  crew  of 
only  five  men.  Between  St.  Louis  and  Westport 
L:m(ling,  on  the  other  hand,  traffic  grew  heavy  with 
tlie  increase  in  westward  migration.  Five  regular 
steamers  were  employed  on  this  route  in  1831,  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  in  1S3(),  and  twenty-six  in  1842. 

"St.  Louis  is  a  kind  of  central  point  in  this  immense 
valley.  From  this  point,  outfits  are  constantly 
making  to  the  military  posts,  and  to  the  remotest 
ngions  by  the  himters  for  furs.  Boats  are  also  con- 
sfjuitly  aseending  to  the  lead-mine  districts  on  the 
ii|)|)er  Missioippi." "  Along  the  water  front  lay 
•  raft  (lestiiii'd  for  the  Mandan  villages,  for  Prairie  du 
<'hi<-ii  and  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  for  the  voyage 
np  tfie  lllindis  and  through  the  navigable  swamp  that 
'livKlfd  it  Irnju  the  Chicago  Hiver  and  Lake  Michi- 
L\Mii,  Others  were  bound  to  the  south,  —to  Arkan- 
-;t>  I'osi,  I,,  Xjvtchez,  and  New  Orleans.  An  Indian 
'r.nl    woni  info  n  wagon  ro;id.  connected  St.   Loui 


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with  Little  Rock  and  Natchitoches.     Another,  the 
Osage  Trace,  led  southwest  to  the  trading  post  on  the 
Verdigris  and  along  the  Poteau  River  to  the  Kiamich. 
settlements.    The  population  of  St.  Lou^  had  m- 
creased  slowly  during  the  War  of  1812,  but  there- 
after  it  grew  apace  and  mounted  to  four  thousand  in 
1820  and  to  six  thousand  in  1830.   The  pcople^were  s  .1 
Virnelv  foreign,  and  men  were  yet  living  who  had  felled 
!he  trees  for  the  building  of  Laclede's  fort.     The  lead- 
ing n.erchants  bore  old  French  nan.es, -(  houteau 
Sarnv   Pratte,  Menard,  Sulard,  -  while  Manuel  Lisa 
rof'spanishorigin.     The  French  <.u.ter  lay  to  the 
south  and  was  described  by  Flagg  -^^-'f'']'^ 
Van  Winkle-lookitig  regic»n,  whore  each  little  steep- 
roofed  cottage  yet  presents  its  broad  piazza,  and  the 
oo.ey  settee  before  the  door  beneath  the  tree  shade, 
wiUi  the  fleshy  old  burghers  soberly  luxuriating  on  an 
evening  pipe,  their  dark-eyed,  brmuHte  ^1-^" 
their   si.le."  ^«     Every   house,   whether  the      steep- 
roofed  stone  cottage  of  tlu-  Frenchnmn  or  the  tal 
stuccoed  dwelling  oi  the  <lon."  stood  alone  in  th. 
..MUer  of  a  garden  which  was  often  surrounded  by  a 
stout  palisade,  a  necessary  precautio.i  a«ninst  Indian 
forav<      The  "venerable  mansions"  of  Auguste  anc 
Pierre'rhcuteau  were  surrounded  by  "lofty  walls  of 
masonrv.  with  loop-holes  and  watch  towers   for  de- 
fense ••■   Th<^  residences  of  the  well-to-<lo  Americans, 
such  as  that  of  (lenend  William  Ashley,  stood  (m  the 
high  bluff  overlooking  the  river,  while  the  shop^  an.t 
warehous<.s  were  ranged  nlong  the  water  front  at  its 
foot,  where  two  narn.w  streets  runnir.g  parallel  w.  h 
the  riv.      ervcd  as  wharf  :uul  hii:lnv:,y  .-ombmed.    1  he 


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MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


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preeminent  commercial  advantage  of  this  site  was  a 
limestone  ledge  that  extended  for  several  miles  above 
and  below  the  town  and  formed  a  stable  shore,  much 
to  be  preferred  to  the  muddy  and  caving  banks 
characteristic  of  the  Missouri  and  the  lower  Missis- 
sippi. Manufactures,  too,  were  being  undertaken 
where  the  produce  of  the  farm  might  be  converted  into 
marketable  form.  In  1819  the  place  had  one  brew- 
ery, two  distilleries,  two  water-mills,  one  steam  flour- 
ing mill,  and  a  grist-mill  propelled  by  ox-power. 

The  population  of  Missouri  in  ISIO  was  but  twenty 
thousand.     liy  1820,  it  had  reached  sixty-six  thou- 
sanil.     The  rapidly  growing  territory  had  great  am- 
bitions and  a  movement  was  organized  to  elevate  the 
northern  half  (excluding  Arkansas)  to  statehood.     It 
was  the  first  of  the  new  commonwealths  to  be  created 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  (piestion  of  slavery,  — 
settled  for  the  Northwest,  Southwest,  and  Mississippi 
territories  by  aseriesof  congressional  ordinances, —was 
raised  anew.     There  were  by  this  time  ten  thousand 
slaves  in  Missouri.    Many  of  the  plantations  and  mines 
were  worked  by  slaves,  and  there  were  among  them 
skilled  artisans,  blacksmiths  and  carpenters,  whose  ser- 
vices were  extremely  valuable  to  their  masters  and  to 
tlic  "onununity.     It  was  believed  that  the  resources 
of  the  country  could  iiot  be  developed  without  slave 
labor.     New  England  and  the  Northern  states  were 
keenly  alive  to  the  significance  of  the  issue,  and  the 
(|Ucstion  was  bitterly  debated  in  both  lu.uses  of  Con- 
gress.    An  attempt  made  by  representatives  of  the 
N'trthern  states  to  amend  the  tnotion  for  a<imission 
< introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives.  IVu- 
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laiQ^  hv  the  proviso  that  no  more  slaves  be 
i:l«  a  altCall  children  thereutu-r  bon.  in  the 
tT^iei  set  free  at  the  a,e  of  twenty-hve  years 
:*:  «eatoa;  but  a  compron-^  w.s  — ^" '"^ 
enaetment  .hat  slavery  would  '-'f  "'''^^''^P  " 
hibitcd  in  LouUiana  Territory  north  of  the  thu-ty 
sXarallel.    The  proclivity  "' -f  ^  ^J™';  ^ 
,lave-holdinR  states  for  the  r.ch  ^'^'"'-''^'^^l^^ 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  rivers  «s  ""-  J    '™™^ 
In  the  seaboard  and  Oulf  states  the  ""■"I"'-'"  '^'•'^f 
„^  increasing,  and  the  productive  power  ot   h  yj.  d 
wus  declininR.    The  younger  and  more  enterpns  « 
;L,t  wore  eager  to  recoup  their  fortunes  in  the 
new  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

Iowa 
Meantime,  the  land  of  the  Kiowas  was  attracting 
attention  in  the  Northern  states.    The  <-"  "  •^'     " 
ican  migration  from  east  to  west  has  alwa  s  tol- 
Iwcl  parallels  of  hititude.     The  denuens  of    he  .    - 
■mtic    tates  and  of  the  commonwealths  west    f  tie 
Cpalachians,  s^king  new  homes,  choose  a  c lima  e 
„r  which  they  a,,  accustomed  and  try  to    oea^e 
their  farms  where  they  can  r.ise  the  crops  with  which 
the"  are  familiar.     In  the  estimation  of  men  from 
New  Kngland,  New  York,  and  Ohio  the  -  usion  -, 
slaverv  from  the  territory  north  of  (he  th.rl, -sixth 
narnlU-l  gave  additional  value  to  this  region.     Emi- 
gl  ion  to  the  northwest  w,is  forwarded,  moreover, 
bv  the  opening  upof  th,  trans-AUeghany  -"t-;-^^ 
Fri..  Canal,  .be  Pe.msylv.nia  <Mna    and  1  ortag 
Uadway,  the  Uulumoie  aii.l  Ohio  Canal,  and  the 


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MISSOURI  TERRITORY 


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National  Post  Road.  Local  enterprise  was  not  slow 
to  supplement  these  great  highways  and  facilitate 
access  to  Iowa.  There  were  ferries  across  the  Missis- 
sippi at  Dubuque,  Buffalo,  and  Burlington,  and  a 
regular  steamboat  line  was  established  (1825)  which 
carried  passengers  up  the  river  as  far  a-s  Fort  Snelling. 
In  the  early  twenties  there  wa,s  a  rush  for  the  lead 
mines,  and  claims  were  taken  up  and  profitably 
worked  before  the  Indian  titles  were  quieted  or  the 
land  opened  for  settlement.  The  pioneers  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  fat,  alluvial  soils  of  the  interior  were 
even  more  productive  than  the  mines,  and  squatters 
began  cultivation  before  land  offices  were  provided. 
To  the  frontier  farmer,  the  toilsome  task  of  breaking 
the  sod  was  sufficient  evidence  of  title,  and  he  was 
outraged  when  the  tract  was  sold  at  auction  to  some 
speculator  from  the  East,  who  thus  paid  the  govern- 
ment for  the  value  of  the  improvements.  Claims 
associations  were  organized  for  the  purpose  of  adjudi- 
cating boundaries  and  titles  among  the  actual  farmers 
and  for  beating  off  alien  bidders  by  combination, 
force,  or  fraud.  Thus  a  rough  justice  was  attained 
in  (h^fiance  of  law.  Iowa  Territory  was  organized  in 
is;iS  and  statehood  was  granted  in  1846. 

Tlie  westward  movement  had  been  augmented  by 
tlic  Imrd  times  tliat  prevailed  in  the  ea-stern  cities  in 
\^'V.\  and  lS;i4.  Workmen  and  operatives  tiirown 
out  of  ornployment  l)y  the  curtailnient  of  industry, 
turned  to  the  unclaimed  l-mds  f)eyon(l  tlie  Mississippi 
as  an  opportunity  not  only  to  earn  a  livelihood  but 
to  attain  the  independence  that  was  the  dream  of 
f^very  American  eiti/en.     Canal  boats,  lal  e  steamers, 


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(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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68  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

and  river  steamers  were  crowded,  while  thousands  of 
the  more  impecunious  families  made  their  way  on 
foot  or  on  horseback,  in  carts  or  prairie  ^^chooners, 
along  post-road  and  trail,  to  the  land  of  fr.>edom  and 
plenty.  Allured  by  tales  sent  back  by  the  pioneers 
or  by  the  prospectuses  distributed  by  speculators,  they 
undertook  the  journey  with  the  strong  conviction 
that  fortune  lay  before  them,  but  with  small  com- 
prehension of  the  risks  and  hardships  of  the  new 

life. 

The  whole  movement  was  speculative.    The  emi- 
grants brought  little  with  them  but  hope  and  energy 
and  the  American's  capacity  for  adaptation.     The 
land  companies  were  engaged  in  a  credit  operation  of 
ticklish  proportions,  expecting  to  make  good  their 
obligations   out   of   the   revenue   from   sales.    The 
steamship  companies,  the  merchants,  wholesale  and 
retail,  the  innkeepers  along  the  routes,  were  all  doing 
business  on  borrowed  money,  for  there  was  limitless 
credit  for  any  man  who  had  a  plausible  scheme  in  his 
head.     The  "coon  box"  banks,  organized  after  the 
termination  of  the  second  National  Bank,  wore  issu- 
ing money  with  small  concern  for  redemption  and 
wore  eager  to  loan  on  land  security,  even  though  that 
land  was  entirely  undeveloped.     The  Specie  Circu- 
lar, requiring  that  payments  at  the  ^^nited  States 
land  ofTicos  should  bo  made  in  legal  tiMider.  suddenly 
pricked  this  ov(>ri)l()wn  bubble  of  credit  financiering, 
and  a  thousand  prosperous  entorprisos  collapsed  in  a 
night.     Farmers  wore  unal)lo  to  soil  their  produce 
even  at  falling  prices  and  so  had  no  money  with  which 
to  pay  the  instaU.nculs  of  prinrip:il  and  ir.t{^ro-4  ; 


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MISSOURI  TERRITORY  69 

land  companies  were  ruined,  for  the  mortgaged  lands 
that  came  back  into  their  possession  had  no  commer- 
cial value;  bankers  closed  their  doors,  and  mer- 
chants, unable  longer  to  get  goods  on  credit  from 
thetr  eastern  correspondents,  were  fain  to  do  likewise. 
Hundreds  of  mushroom  towns  were  abandoned,  and 
the  transportation  projects  that  had  seemed  so 
feasible  in  the  boom  times  before  the  panic,  were  in- 
volved in  the  general  calamity. 

Thomas  H.  Benton 

The  dominant  figure  in  Missouri  and  an  influential 
factor  m  the  destiny  of  the  Far  West  for  the  critical 
decades  from  1820  to  1850  was  Thomas  H.  Benton 
the  eloquent  statesman  who  served  during  this  period' 
as  representative  of  Missouri  in  the  United  States 
Senate.     Benton  was  born  iu  the  "back  country" 
of  North  Carolina,  but  his  mother  came  of  good  V'ir- 
puna  stock  and  was  a  woman  of  sufficient  int(>lloctual 
rapacity  to  direct  her  son's  reading  and  to  shield  him 
from  whiskey  and  cards,  the  demoralizing  amuse- 
ments of  the  frontier.     In  1800,  when  the  boy  was 
but  eight  years  old,  this  heroic  mother  moved  her 
ittle  family  to  a  tract  of  land  in  western  Tennessee 
later  known  as  Widow  Benton's  Settlement,  where' 
^vlth  the  aid  of  her  slaves  and  this  trusty  son.  she  put 
up  cabins  and  barns,  a  school  and  a  church,  laid  roads 
f>"«lt  bridges,  and  cleared  the  land  for  the  growing  of 
cotton.     Here  the  boy  grew  to  manhood,  on  famihar 
tonns   with   Andrew  Jackson.    Sa.n    Houston,    and 
ythor  ambitious  spirits  of  the  pioneer  state.     Faith 
'"  the  great  destinies  of  the  West  was  the  fundamen- 


I  ■ 


!     I- 


I" 


•  '  ^ 

■  J 


;i 


i 


W: 


i'  I 


'!i     '   \ 


r  1 


I       k\ 


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f'l 


V  m 


o 


V'    ? 


70  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

tal  article  of  their  political  creed.  In  1815  young 
B  n  ntpene^  a  law  office  in  St.  Louis  and  qu.kly 
Scoured  a  large  practice  among  the  Creole  population, 
acquirea  a  la  ^   y     ^„.Uorizcd  by  French  and  Span- 

tSr..    Elected  to  the  United  States  Sena  - 
1821    he  immediately  withdrew  from  tins  practice, 
tftng  that  his  relations  with  the  Federal  govern- 
rlenTm  ght  prejudice  the  land  office  in  hB  favor. 

For'e  next  thirty  year.,  Senator  Benton  used  h. 
Ja°  and  growing  influence  for  the  development  of 
X  W^t.  Avisit  to  Jefferson  at  Montecel  o  ren- 
tnc  vicsi.  inn-icontinental  trade 

dered  him  a  champion  of  ""O  t™«"'"  , 

route  and  his  intercourse  with  General  Clark  ana 
ZtVappe.  and  traders  of  St.  I«ave  h.m 

unusual  knowledge  of  the  resources  of  M'^^™"  ^^^ 
ritory.    Benton  was  a  thoroughgomg  -P-— 
ardently  concerned  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the 
a^ertlon  of  our  claims  to  Oregon  and  -he  aj'sit.on 
of  California;  but  he  was  no  less  insistent  on  the 
devdopmeni  of  transportation  facilities  and  the  pr<. 
"of  the  interests  of  the  traders  and  farmers 
r^re  laying  the  foundations  of  <uture  prospen 
Early  associated  in  a  legal  way  with  A  to     nd    1, 
St.  Louis  traders,  he  was  ever  the  hrm  fr   ■  <  "t   he 
fur  companies,  and  put  forth  every  effort  UK 

about  the  abolition   of  the  «"vernn,ent      Ho  - 
Benton  thus  narrates  the  part  he  play"' '" '^"^t '™ 
,„versv.   "As  a  citizen  of  a  frontier  Ma  o,      had 
en    he  working  of  the  system -- seen  its  inside 
t  ,nd  knew  its  operation  to  be  entirely  con- 


working, 
trary  to 


the  benevolent  designs  of  its  project 


ors. 


^^Wi^^sw^mf?^^7iO'ms^% 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY  71 

These  views  had  been  communicated  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  in  1820,  "but  he  [Calhoun]  had  too  good  an 
opmion  of  the  superintendent  ...  to  believe  that 
any  thmg  was  wrong  in  the  business,  and  refused  his 
countenance  to  my  proposition.     Confident  that  I 
was  right,  I  determined  to  bring  the  question  before 
the  Senate  -  did  so  -  brought  in  a  bill  to  abolish 
the  factories,  and  throw  open  the  fur  trade  to  individ- 
ual enterprise,  and  supported  the  bill  with  all  the 
facts  and  reasons  of  which  I  was  master."  ^s    No  less 
energetic  and  decisive  was  his  campaign  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  Indian  lands,  of  which  fifteen  and  a 
half  million  acres  lay  within  the  state  of  .Vrkansas 
and   two  and   three   quarters   millions  in  Missouri 
Treaties  negotiated  with  the  Kansas  and  Osage  tribes 
by  General  Clark  in  1825  and  ratified  bv  the  Senate 
the  following  year,  ceded  all  the  territory  between 
the  Missouri  and  the  Rockies,  with  the  exception  of 
certain  carefully  defined  reservations.    Benton  in- 
dignantly denounced  the  charge  that  the  government 
had  not  dealt  fairly  by  its  Indian  wards,  citing  in 
evidence  the  various  land  purchases  to  prove  that  in 
the  first  fifty  years  of  its  existence  the  United  Statrs 
had  paid  $85,000,000  for  tribal  lands,  to  say  nothing 
of  Its  expenditures  in  the  way  of  education  etc  «>    His 
personal  knowledge  of  the  vexations  and  hardships 
consequent  on  the  uncertainties  of  Spanish   grants 
led  him  to  advocate  that  the  cases  still  pending  be 
refened  to  a  Federal  commission.     Such  a  commis- 
sion was  appointed  for  Missouri  in  1832,  evidence  as 

^  f  ""If^^  '^''^'^'  '••^•"^''^  "^^^  taken  and   titles 
verified.    The  findings  of  the  commission  were  later 


lu 


l':-A^' 


ji-iif 


i  M' 


I'V. 


,^  'i 


'''r  ., 
I  1  f\ 

r   i     ■ 

■ 

■ 

:i 


'h 


^^imSm^js^i^mKmm/^imBmj^m^ 


*:^.^:^fSi^''s^^.^^ 


\ 


72  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

affinned  bv  Congress,  and  the  many  tedious  and 
attirmea  uv         &  sudden  termination, 

costly  suits  were  brought  to  ^  ^^^/^^^  ^^^  ^^, 

ThP  eovernment  policy  as  to  the  puDiic  wi 

-?Ri"Ss;:::^-oVr:dr: 

west  ot  the  Missisaipp'.  »  securine 

dint  of  persistent  and  ™«»'^™8  «««''"  ^^^m 
sle  highly  important  mo.Uficat.ons  Jhe  jstem 

„,  credit  sales  was  "n^i  m  f  2':  ^'t  he  prac- 
•^'Trn:;  tr^.rr     ctn  was  stiil  main- 

'"•'  "1  irthe "  that  men  with  ready  money 
t„ned  wnh  the  r^^J  t  ^^.^^^.tterswere 

rrou^rf Tm  h^Mings  to  which  their  labor  had 
often  »"'»«'''  Mineral  lands  and  sahnes 

r:r:tr::emarUet,butlea.dtothe 

developing  companies,  who  pa.d  a  royalty  on  then 
oC  and  charged  a  compensating  pnce  to  «,e 
eonsumer      Benton  was  the  consistent  toe  of  mo 
nZTwhether  exercised  by  the  private  ^Vec<i^<r'" 
7Cll  agent.a„d  he  did  not  hesitate  to  a^^acU  th 
revenue-producing  policy  as  prejudicml  to  settlt 
rlint  and  development.    Familiar  w,th  the  head- 
™h  bv  which  any  citizen  ot  North  Carolma  migh 
^btn  ix tndred'and  forty  acres  ot  Tennes^e  to 
on  condition  of  clearing  and  plantmg  it,  at  the  nom. 
1  price  of  ten  cents  an  acre,  Benton  advocated  that 
:,fe  Weral  government  adopt  »  .^al.y  ge-™ 
nolicv     He  brought  in  bill  after  bill  m  behalf  ol  a 
^.t'democratic'land  system    and  his  e«orts  m. 
with  a  considerable  measure  o   succe^.  Jh  j' 
lands  were  put  upon  the  market  u.  1828  the  e^  a 
iron  deposits  in  1840,  and  the  preemption  right  « 


•mms^m 


s 


MISSOURI  TERRITORY  73 

guaranteed  to  all  actual  occupiers  of  government  land 
m  1841.  But  "the  two  repulsive  features  of  the  fed- 
eral land  system  [remained.],  —  sales  to  the  highest 
bidder  and  donations  to  no  one  — with  an  arbitrary 
minimum  price  ...  of  one  dollar  twenty-five  cents 
per  acre."  «  Benton  continued  to  the  end  of  his 
public  career  to  urge  upon  the  Senate  the  advantages 
of  a  more  generous  policy,  the  reduction  of  the  price 
to  seventy-five  cents  and  $1  an  acre,  and  free  grants  to 
actual  and  destitute  settlers. 

Senator  Benton's  campaign  against  the  salt  mo- 
nopolies created  by  the  Federal  leases  had  been  early 
crowned  with  success,  but  his  attempts  to  remove 
the  import  duty  of  twenty  cents  a  bushel  levied  on 
the  salt  imported  from  Portugal  and  the  West  Indies 
were  less  fortunate.    Missouri  as  a  large  producer  of 
salt  may  be  supposed  to  have  profited  by  the  tax,  but 
Senator  Benton  thought  the  interests  of  the  consumer 
more  important.    He  argued  that  the  domestic  prod- 
uct was  inferior  in  "quality  and  high  in  price  and  un- 
suitable for  curing  beef  and  pork  for  exportation. 
The  prosperity  of  a  great  industry  was  at  stake.    The 
farmers  who  supplied  beef,  pork,  bacon,  butter,  and 
cheese  to  the  mines  of  Missouri  and  the  upper  Mis- 
sissippi, to  the  plantations  of  the  lower  river,  to  the 
Army  and  Navy,  and  to  the  Indian  reservations,  must 
have  the  sun-evaporated  salt  at  a  reasonable  price,  or 
cease  production.     The  West  India  trade  was  also  in 
jeopardy,  for  salt  provisions  made  up  a  considerable 
part  of  the  outgoing  cargoes.     Given  free  trade  in 
>*alt,  and  "the  lovee  at  New  Orlean!?  would  be  cov- 
crvil  —  the  warehouses  would  be  crammed  with  salt ; 


I'M 


*  ;  M 


'  I 


'1;  .i 
;■:■:: 

^' 

I 


mi^wMt<K^Mit'ui:i^^s^mmss3^Fimm!m^^^ 


!    I 
'    ft 


74  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

the  barter  trade  would  become  extensive  and  uni- 
versal, a  bushel  of  corn,  or  of  potatoes,  a  few  pounds 
of  butter,  or  a  few  pounds  of  beef  or  pork,  wodd  pur- 
chase  a  sack  of  salt;  the  steamboats  would  brmg  it 
up  for  a  trifle  [17  cents  per  bushel];  and  all  the  upper 
States  of  the  Great  Valley,  where  salt  is  so  scarce,  so 
dear  and  so  indispensable  for  rearing  stock  and  cur- 
ing provisions,  in  addition  to  all  its  obvious  uses 
would  be  cheaply  and  abundantly  supplied  with  that 
article  " "-  The  advocates  of  protection  were  stronger 
and  more  influential  than  any  influence  the  consumer 
could  bring  to  bear,  however,  and  Benton  succeeded 
only  in  removing  the  duty  on  solar  (alum)  salt. 

As  to  slavery,  Benton,  a  Southerner  born  and  bred 
was  wholly  in  sympathy  with  the  compromise  o 
1820     He  was  not  a  member  of  the  convention  that 
drew  up  the  state  constitution ;  but  he  states  m  the 
Thirty  Years^  View-  that  he  was  the  "instigator    of 
the  clause  which  sanctioned  slaveholdmg  and  for- 
bade  the  legislature  to  interfere  with  the  practice^ 
He  was  ''equally  opposed  to  slavery  agitation  and  to 
slavery  extension,"  but  he  fully  indorsed  the  right  of 
citizens  to  avail  themselves  of  this  form  of  labor,  and 
he  believed  the  recognition  of  this  principle  important 
"for  the  sake  of  peace." 


••l^;'.":?'LiMiaA% 


W^^Wi^ 


CHAPTER  III 


4 


s 
f 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE 

A  ROUNDABOUT  and  hazardous  commerce  had  been 
carried  on  with  the  Spanish  provinces  by  way  of  Taos, 
the  old-time  market  to  which  the  Apache  Indians 
brought  their  furs.    An  Indian  trader  named  Purcell 
(Pursley  of  Pike's  Journal)  had  been  led  by  the  Paw- 
nees up  the  Platte  River  and  across  the  divide  to  this 
rendezvous  of  the  mountain  tribes.     His  success  in- 
duced William  Morrison,  an  enterprising  merchant 
of  Kaskaskia  (later  a  member  of  the  Missouri  Fur 
Company),  to  despatch  a  Creole,  La  Lande,  with  a 
small  consignment  of  goods  to  Taos  in  1804.     La 
Lande  did  not  return,  and  Pike  was  commissioned  to 
ascertain  his  fate.    He  found  the  faithless  agent  at 
Santa  F^,  only  too  well  content  with  the  treatment 
accorded  him.    The  authorities  had  given  him  a 
grant  of  land  and  a  business  opening,  for  +he  purpose 
of  preventing  his  carrying  back  to  his  patron  infor- 
mation that  might  lead  to  similar  expeditions.      The 
publication  of  Pike's  Journal  (1806)  and  his  Disser- 
taiion  on  Louisiana  (1808)  attracted  attention  to  the 
rich  resources  of  New  Spain  and  the  ease  with  wliich 
Santa  F4  could  be  reached  via  the  Arkansas  River. 
Hidalgo's  insurrection,    moreover,   gave   reason   to 
hope  that  the  exclusive  commercial  policy  enforced 
by  the  Spanish  authorities  might  give  way  .as  soon 
as  the  Creole  population  came  into  power.     With  the 

76 


li.l.SS'YSit'' 


'I  I 


111 


I 


i      \ 


.'!-'  ■ 


} 


rilM^rF^IIm^, 


I  il 


r' 


76  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

purpose  of  being  first  on  the  ground,  a  party  of 
traders,  McKnight,  Chambers,  and  Beard,  set  out  m 
1812,  following  Pike's  route  to  Taos ;  but  the  venture 
proved    ill-timed.    The    insurrectos  suffered  defeat, 
and  the  suspicion  attaching  to  American  interlopers 
was  only  augmented.    The  unlucky  traders  were 
seized  as  spies,  their  goods  confiscated,  and  the  men, 
some  dozen  in  number,  incarcerated  at  Chihuahua 
There  they  remained  until  the  revolution  of  1821 
opened  the  prison  doors.    Meantime,  A.  P.  Chouteau 
and  Julius  De  Munn  of  St.  Louis  organized  a  trap- 
ping expedition  that  led  them  beyond  the  mountain 
boundary  to  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas  and  of  the 
Rio  Grande.    Their  attempt  to  secure  a  license  from 
the  commandante  at  Santa  F6  failed,  and  they  were 
arrested   and   thrown   into   prison,   while   the   furs 
gathered  in  two  years'  hard  work  on  both  sides  the 
boundary   were   confiscated.     Chouteau    addressed 
an  indignunt  protest  to  the  Department  of  State  and 
had  sufficient  influence  at  Washington  to  secure  com- 
pensation to  the  amount  of  $30,000.    Daniel  Men- 
wether,  who  had  a  similar  experience  in  1819,  was  less 
fortunate  in  the  outcome. 

In  the  autumn  of  1821,  an  Indian  trader  named 
Hugh  Glenn  set  out  from  his  post  on  the  Verdigns 
River  with  a  cargo  of  goods  for  Santa  ¥6.  The 
journal  of  the  expedition  was  kept  by  Jacob  Fowlor, 
a  Kentucky  planter  with  a  taste  for  adventure,  who 
had  gathered  a  party  of  twenty  hunters  to  trap 
beaver  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  was  glad  to 
join  forces  with  the  trader.  They  carried  no  pro- 
visions but  salt,  expecting  to  five  on  buffalo  and 


:li--7V£'ar^ 


'■^M 


^1^;^^^^ 


mms^ 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  77 

antelope,  together  with  the  com,  beans,  and  dried 
pumpkins  purchased  of  the  Osage  Indians.  The  caval- 
cade  of  horses  and  mules  followed  an  Indian  road  up 
the  Arkansas,  coming  occasionally  upon  signs  of  other 
trapping  or  trading  parties,  until  the  Spanish  peaks 
rose  above  the  horizon.    There,  near  the  Chico  River 
they  found  a  great  Indian  encampment  —  Arapahoes' 
Snakes,  Comanches,  and  Kiowas  -  an  extraordinary 
concourse  of  twenty  thousand  people,  lodged  in  four 
hundred  tepees  and  consuming  one  hundred  buffalo 
per  day.     Chances  for  trade  were  very  poor,  how- 
ever, for  the  assembled  tribes  could  offer  nothing 
but  buffalo  robes,  horses,  and  some  twenty  beaver 
skins    (Fowler  complains  that  these  nomad  tribes 
showed  no  capacity  whatever  for   trapping  game) 
and  there  was  serious  risk  of  losing  the  goods  by  theft 
or  violence.    The  appearance  of  a  party  of  Spanish 
traders  gave  Glenn  the  opportunity  he  sought  of  find- 
ing  his  way  to  Santa  F^.     Fowler  and  his  men  built 
a  blockhouse  on  Fountain  qui  BouiUe,  the  spot  Pike 
had  fixed  upon  for  a  winter  camp  fifteen  years  be- 
fore, and  from  that  point  of  vantage  trapped  the 
mountain  streams,  collecting  several  packs  of  beaver. 
In  January  came  a  messenger  from  Colonel  Glenn 
with  the  good  news  that  he  had  been  well  received  at 
feanta  F6,  that  Mexico  had  declared  independence  of 
the  mother  country  and  was  eager  for  trade  with  the 
Poople  of  the  United  States,  and,  farther,  that  per- 
mission  had  been  granted  Fowler  to  trap  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rio  Grande.     Nothing  loath,  he  crossed 
the  mountains  to  Taos,  following  Pike's  route,  and 
camped  on  the  Canejos  only  a  few  miles  below  that 


Mil-    S| 


'i 


i-li-1 


mm^:'^^m 


■m^-: 


•' 


tiii  t 

t'-     I 


78  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

explorer's    unlucky    fort.    Three   months'    sojourn 
proved   highly  remunerative  to  both  trapper  and 
trader,  and  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  recovering 
McKnight  and  his  men.    On  May  12, 1822,  the  snow 
being  gone  and  the  horses  fattened  on  the  spring 
grass,  the  Americans  set  out  for  home,  recrossmg  the 
Sangre  de  Cristo  by  Taos  Pass.    Steering  directly 
east    "like  a  ship  without  a  rudder'     (sw),  they 
crossed  the  Cimarron  Desert,  a  desolate  plam  where 
there  was  no  fuel  but  buffalo  dung  and  where  the 
only  water  was  had  by  digging  holes  in  the  sand. 
'<  We  are  now  In  the  oppen  World  not  a  tree,  Bush  or 
Hill  of  any  kind  to  be  Seen  for  When  you  take  the 
Eye  off  the  ground  you  See  nothing  but  the  Blue 

Horezon." '  .         ^  „„ 

Another  expedition  of  even  greater  importaixce  was 
made  in  1821.    WiUiam  Becknell,  of  Boons's  Lick, 
equipped  a  pack  train  and  made  his  way  via  Ta^s  to 
Santa  Fe,  where  he  was  able  to  sell  his  Amenca,n  cali- 
coes at  $2  and  $3  per  vara,  the  price  commanded  by 
goods   imported  through  Vera  Cruz.    The  duties 
imposed  at  United  States  pc^.ts  were  comparatively 
low   the  carriage  from  St.  Louis  was  but  two-thirds 
that  from  the  Mexican  port,  and  the  consequent 
margin  of  profit  was  such  as  to  attract  other  mer- 
chants to  this  new  field.    In  1822,  the  independence 
of  Mexico  being  assured,  Becknell  repeated  his  ven- 
ture on  a  larger  scale,  taking  S5000  worth  of  goods  m 
loaded  wagons.    Turning  south  from  the  Great  Bend 
of  the  Arkansas,  he  i.ndertook  to  cross  the  Cimarron 
Desert,  having  small  comprehension  of  its  terrors. 
The  party  nearly  perished  with  thirst,  and  he  was 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE 


79 


Th.  S.„.  f,  t„,„  „„  „„„  Ho,m.„„„  „.  o„„  p1.™.. 


forced  to  return  This  same  year  Benjamin  Cooper, 
mth  h,s  nephew,  Braxton  Cooper  from  Le  Mine  River 
conducted  a  pack  train  from  FranWin  by  ^  "^"' 
route  got  safely  through,  and  realised  so  h^a  profi 
on  the  mvestment  that  he  ventured  again  in  ,823 
and  brought  back  four  hundred  mules  and  a  large 
milk/  n    "".  I''  ''''  '""""•»«'  Colonel  uZ 

1  «1tn  .     r  """"''  '"^^  ""d  fansported 
Irrie  tot    VT  ""'*  "'  ^-'^^  --  the 

d  eTd  d  d      1  ?""  "'"'*  ""<'  "'<-™<'  '"^■•o'^x  the 
dreaded  desert  directly  to  Santa  F6.     Wheeled  ve 

d:ir-tra~i"°"™''"-™--^-<' 

the  ODen  oin  ™*  "'""  <"  "^"^'^  ■""!«,  and 

open  plams  proved  easy  travelling,  water  suffi- 


;  i 


^1 


'  frl 


.ft 


'.? 


i  '< 


'I    < 
t 

fl 


.  Ill  1  i 

:,  !  'Xl.  ■  m 
\       -4':M   Hi 


r:  '1 


PI 


l-i". 


^^SIkS^I^SI 


I  I 

n 


it 


if 


!     I- 


n 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


80 

cient  for  the  arid  intervals  being  carried  in  the 
wagons.  The  returns  from  this  cooperative  enter- 
prise were  very  flattering -1180,000  in  specie  and 

$10,000  in  furs.  ^     ^ 

No  legislative  achievement  of  Senator  Benton  was 
more    highly  appreciated   by  his   fellow-townsmen 
than  the  Federal  appropriation  for  the  survey  of  a 
road  from  Franklin  to  Santa  FL    The  bill  was  m- 
troduced  in  the  session  of  1824-1825,  evidence  being 
brought  to  show  that  a  profitable  trade  might  be 
developed  if  the  transportation  of  goods  across  the 
seven  hundred  miles  of  plain  and  desert  were  ren- 
dered safe.    Benton  submitted  a  report  from  Augus- 
tus Storrs,  the  Vermont  Yankee,  who  had  sold  his 
cargo  of  cotton  goods  for  $190,000  worth  of  silver 
furs,  and  mules,  and  was  very  enthusiastic  about 
the  commercial  opportunity.    C  ongress  appropna  ed 
$10,000  for  the  survey  and  $20,000  more  for    he 
purpose  of  purchasing  the  right  of  transit  from  the 
Indians     A   Federal   commission  faithfully  carried 
out  this  double  task.    The  usual  route  ^  far  as  the 
Great  Bend  was  marked  by  mounds  of  earth,  but 
thence  the  surveyors  followed  the  Arkansas  to  Taos 
as  the  safer  way.    The  traders,  however   preferred 
the  short  cut  across  the  desert  in  nP^te  o    its  risks. 
This  part  of  the  trail  was  undefined  until  1834,  when 
the  caravan,  crossing  after  a  heavy  rain,  cut  deep 
ruts  in  the  sand,  and  thereafter  the  wagon  track 

was  plain  enough. 

The  chief  danger  of  this  route  was  from  the  thieving 
bands  of  noma.l  Indians  to  whom  the  horses  and 
ammumliou  were  an  irresintible  lure,  and  many  a 


-| 


^Ji^^ips^''«^*5»s»s.v^f;*v^ 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  81 

desperate  encounter  marked  the  path   across  -the 
Cimarron  Desert.    The  offenders  might  be  Pawnees, 
Comanches,  or  Arapahoes,  but  the  traders  did  not 
attempt   to   distinguish   between    them.     They   re- 
garded all  Indians  us  natural  enemies,  and  visited 
punishment  for  the  outrages  inflicted  by  one  tribe 
upon  the  first  inferior  band  they  encountered,  regard- 
less of  actual  responsibility.    Such  a  practice  bred  a 
fierce  hostihty  between  the  white  man  and  the  red, 
and  the  friendly  relations  established  by  Pike,  Chou- 
teau and  Lisa  gave  way  to  endless  retaliations  and 
finally  to  a  war  of  extermination. 

The  Pawnee  and  Osage  Indians,  in  a  treaty  nego- 
tiated at  Council  Grove  (1825),  undertook  not  to 
molest  the  caravans  in  consideration  of  SSOO  worth 
of  goods  tendered  them  by  the  commissioners ;  but 
the  Comanches  were  less  tractalile.     For  years  they 
infested  the  trail,  ever  ready  to  swoop  down  upon 
an  unprotected  wagon  or  to  attack  small  groups  of 
hunters  who  had  been  obliged  to  leave  the  caravan 
in  pursuit  of  buffalo.     Gregg  tells  the  story  of  the 
disaster  that  cost  the  life  of  Jedidiali  Smith  (1829), 
"one  of  the  most  undaunted  spirits  that  ever  trav- 
ersed the  Rocky  Mountains."     "Capt.  Smith  and 
his  companions  were  new  beginners  in  the  Santa  V6 
trade,    but   being   veteran    pioneers   of   the    Rocky 
Mountains,  they  concluded  they  could  go  anywhere  ; 
ami  imprudently  set  out  without  a  single  person  in 
their  company  at  all  competent  to  guide  them  on 
the   route.     They   had    some    twenty-odd    wagons, 
and  about  eighty  men.    There  being  a  plain  track 
to  the  Arkar,..v.  Paver,  they  did  vrry  well  ihu«  far ; 
VOL.  u  — a 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


82 

:rwht;Tet:i"  e  ..owed,  ^d  «...  a. 
^inalv  nerolexing  to  the  bewildered  traveller. 

Desert  looking  tor  '-"=•■•  J™"^^  *,  ^  g„d  it 
lead,  eame  at  last  upon  *■=  "T  "  J  ^^^,  ^^ere 
dry,  but  his  long  -pene-  ^^^f  ^rscooped  out 
might  be  water  beneath  the  sana.     n  "^    .. 

.  L.  and  wa.  rejoiced  to  - J^'' ^  ^S:^ 
Ld""— slarernhl^andstrueUhhn 
down  Hewasdiscoveredbyhis  menly.ng  upon  his 
tr.uHe  dead,  but  the  wat..^^^^^^^^^^^ 

'pZJlHies  we^  that  he  would  be  .i-ed^;  »- 

e  gh    ylaTin  .he  mountains  and  sl,„«W  not  return 
i;f  them  ••    Warner  went  on,  none  the  less,  to  Santa 

F6  and  to  California.'  a     ^^    V6 

(Mi9'\-\'^4r>)    the    Santa    re 
For   twenty   years    (i»Jo-i^4-j;    uu 

E:;ditlnwlL  annual  evptonl.  first -^^ 

tude  to  the  business  men  of  St.   Louis. 

It  L   outfitting  station   u„,i,.h,a   P^spe- 

town  was  washed  into  tlu-  Missouri,  an<l  I  >r  - 


I 


^ 

^ 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  83 

years  thereafter  Independence  served  as  the  point 
of  departure.    When  steamers  became  the  regular 
means  of  transportation  from  St.  Louis,  the  superior 
wharfage  faciUties  at  Westport  Landing  drew  all 
the  river  trade  to  that  town.     The  start  was  made 
m  April,  when  grass  was  fresh  and  water  abundant. 
The  several  parties  scattered  over  the  prairie,  each 
leader  making  his  own  choice  as  to  direction  and 
place  of  encampment,  but  all  came  together  on  an 
appointed  day  at  Council  Grove,  ten  days'  journey 
from  the  Missouri,  in  order  to  organize  for  mutual 
defence  through  the  region  where  Comanches  were 
to  be  feared.     There  a  captain  and  four  lieutenants 
were  chosen,  and  the  force  was  divided  into  com- 
panies of  eight  men  each,  for  guard  duty.     Every 
night  encampment  was  an  impromptu  barricade. 
The  wagons  were  drawn  up  in  a  hollow  square  which 
served  as  a  corral  for  the  animals  and  a  shelter  be- 
hmd  which  to  fight  in  case  of  need.     The  men 
rolled  in  Mackinaw  blankets,  slept  on  the  ground 
under  the  carts,  for  there  were  no  tents  in  the  cara- 
van.    The  camp  fires  were  built  outside  the  corral, 
and  there  the  sentries  paced  their  watches.     The 
most  serious  risk  was  not  to  men  or  goods,  but  to 
tho  horses,  which  were  greatly  coveted  by  the  nomad 
tnl)es  and  stolen  whenever  opportunity  offered.     A 
few  riding  horses  were  necessary  for  scouting  pur- 
poses, but  mules  were  preferred  as  draft  animals 
tx'oause  they  were  better  able  to  endure  the  long 
ninrches  and  scant  pasturage.     These,  in  turn,  were 
prone  to  sudden  panic  and  were  often  stampeded 
>    he  rush  of  u  buffalo  herd  or  a  thieving  band  of 


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pre 


g4  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

Inrlians.    Oxen  were  tried  in  1830,  and  were  used 
thereafter  as  much  as  mules.    They  were  less  afraid 
of  crossing  streams  and  stronger  to  drag  a  wagon 
out  of  a  bog,  but  less  enduring.     On  the  other  hand 
these  slow-footed  animals  were  less  likely  to  be  lost 
or  stolen  and  were  a.  >^  .d  to  run  at  large  about 
the  night   encampment,   whereas  horses  or  mules 
must  be  staked  out  or  hobbled.  ^    .      ^    ., 

The  freight  wagons  were  similar  in  design  to  the 
old-time  conestogas,  though  of  larger  proportions^ 
A  cover  of  stout  Osnaburg  canvas  was  stretched 
over  the  top  frame  to  keep  off  rain  and  dust.    They 
were  as  scientifically  packed  as  a  pirogue  for  there 
must  be  no  displacements  on  the  long,  rough  journey. 
So  skilful  were  the  men  of  the  trail  at  this  delicate 
business  that  cottons,  silks,  china,  glass,  and  hard- 
ware reached  Santa  F6  in  as  sound  condition  as  it 
the  goods  had  been  conveyed  over  the  smoothest  of 
eastern  post  roads.    Flour,  bacon,  coffee,  sug^,  and 
salt  were  laid  in,  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  pounds  per  man ;    but  the  mam  food 
reliance   was   the  buffalo.     A  herd   might  be  en- 
covmtered  soon  after  leaving  Turkey  Creek,  and  the 
hunt  was  a  diversion  in  which  every  plainsman  de- 
lighted     Fresh   meat  was   abimdant  for  the   hrst 
week  or  two,  and  in  this  time  of  plenty  a  quantity 
was  jerked  for  the  portion  of  the  trail  that  lay 
bevond    the    pasture  belt.     Here,    too,    wood    and 
water  must  be  provided  sufficient,  to  furnish   the 
caravan  for  the  sixty  miles  march  to  the  Cimarron, 
^  veritable  Jornado  del  Muerto.     Beyond  the  Ar- 
kansas, Indian  ambuscades  and  night  attacks  wore 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  85 

always  to  be  apprehended,  and  precautions  were 
doubled.    On  three  occasions  (1829,  1834,  1843)  the 
government    sent    a   mihtary    escort,    but    United 
States  troops  might  not  cross  the  Arkansas  where  the 
greatest  danger  lay,  and  the  cost  of  the  expedition 
was  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  benefit  conferred 
In  1834  the  governor  of  New  xMexico  sent  a  force  of 
cavalry  to  meet  the  caravan  at  the  boundary,  and 
the  martial   representatives  of   the  two   republics 
bivouacked  on  Chouteau's  Island.    For  the  most 
part,  however,  the  traders  were  left  to  depend  upon 
their  own  prowess  and,  being  bred  to  the  frontier 
they  were  equal  to  most  emergencies. 

The  journey  of  seven  hundred  miles  was  usually 
accomplished  in  five  or  sbc  weeks,  and  men  ar  d  ani- 
mals were  pretty  well  worn  down  when  their  goal 
was  hnally  reached.     For  the  citizens  of  Santa  F6 
the  a-rival  of  the  caravan  was  the  great  event  of 
the  year.     Not  only  did  the  traders   bring  the  an- 
nual supply  of  goods  from  the  states,  but  Americans 
were  the  most  generous  patrons  of  the  cafds  and 
places  of  amusement.     There  were  important  trans- 
actions  to  be  conducted,  not  only  by  the  local  mer- 
chants, whose  accumulated  stock  of  furs  and  buffalo 
robes,  wool,  blankets,  and  mules  was  to  be  disposed 
of,  but  by  the  customs  officials,  whose  charge  it  was 
to  collect  the  import  duties.     The  Spanish  traditions 
of  venality  and  double-dealing  held  with  the  Mexi- 
can rdgime,  and  the  merchants  well  understood  that 
c-rtain  gratuities  would  secure  the  abatement  of  the 
prescribed   tariff.     The   duties   amounted    to   .ixty 
Per  cent  ad  valorem,  but  in  actual  adjustment  the 


I'^i 


Hi    f    I     :> 


%  r, 


86  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

trader  usually  got  an  abatement  of  one-third  and 
the  collector  pocketed  one-third,  so  that  not  more 
than  one-third  the  legal  charge  found  its  way  mto 
the  public  treasury.    American  goods  sold  at  double 
the  original  price;    but  fortunate  was  the  trader 
who.  after  customs,  expenses,  and  incidental  losses 
were  deducted,   reaUzed  a  profit  of  forty  per  cent. 
The  ordinary  profits  ranged  from  ten  to  twenty  per 
cent     The   burdens    and   impositions  with   which 
the  traffic  was  saddled  by   the    authorities  quite 
arbitrarily  reduced  the  proceeds.     In  1835  the  gov- 
ernor of  Chihuahua  imposed  a  contribvcion  de  guerra 
to  keep  the  Apaches  in  check,   requiring  $25  frorn 
Americans   and    but    S5    from   natives.      In    18^J 
Armijo  exempted  hijos  del  pais  from  the  tax  on  store- 
houses, shops,  etc.,  throwing  the  whole  burden  of 
the  impost  on  foreigners  and  naturahzed  citizens. 
Thinking  to  secure  farther  revenue  at  the  expense 
of  the  traders,  this  same  governor  levied  a  tax  of 
$500  on  each  freight  wagon;    but  the  Americans 
minimized  the  charge  by  increasing  the  capacity  of 
their  wagons  to  two  tons  .  A  a  half  and  adding  four 
draft   animals   to  the  eight    previously   necessary. 
Every  deviation  from  the  minutely  prescribed  routes, 
tariffs,  and  bills  of  lading  was  made  a  pretext  for  con- 
fiscation    "The  trader  can  have  three  pomts  of  des- 
tination named  in  his  guia,  to  either  of  which  he  may 
direct  his  course,  but  to  no  others,  while  in  the  draw- 
ing up  of  the  fadura,  or  invoice,  the  greatest  care  i^ 
requisite,  as  the  slightest  mistake,  even  an  accidental 
«np  of  the  pen,  might,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
law,  subject  the  goods  to  confiscation."  * 


lil' 


vTaK  ^i^V" 


Mi:xicAN  A<„<iLu..s  wiii,  AN  Ataju  „k  I'ack-mllks. 


)  ■-■  » 

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THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  87 

On  the  return  trip  the  loads  were  lighter,  for 
specie  and  furs  were  less  bulky  in  proportion  to 
value  than  dry  goods  and  hardware,  and  the  mules 
and  jackasses  purchased  in  New  Mexico  travelled 
afoot.    Fully   half   the   wagons   were   sold   to   the 
Mexicans,  and  they  brought  four  or  five  times  their 
origmal  cost;  but  the  worn-out  oxen  were  sacrificed 
at  m  a  yoke.     Not  more  than  half  the  muleteers 
returned  over  the  trail.     Many  died,  broken  down 
by  the  hardships  of  the  journey  or  by  the  dissipa- 
tions that  ensnared  them  in  the  gay  capital  of  New 
Mexico;  many  found  their  way  back  to  the  United 
States  by  way  of  MatamorraS;  still  others  settled 
for  Ufe  in  this  land  of  opportunity.     The  neglected 
farm  lands,  mines,  and  commercial  openings  of  the 
north  Mexican  states  offered  most  attractive  chances 
for  investment,  and  the  people  were  hospitable  to 
strangers.    There  was  an  American  colony  at  San 
Fernando  de  Taos   and    an  American  quarter  in 
Santa  F^.     In  the  second  decade  of  the  New  Mexi- 
can trade,  as  the  annual  caravan  attained  larger 
proportions  and  the  cargoes  were  increased,  prices 
fell  at  Santa  F6,  and  there  developed  a  glut  of  the 
market  that  made  it  expedient  to  carry  the  goods 
on  to  Chihuahua,  Sonora,  and  even  to  California,  in 
search  of  a  profitable  market.     In  1830  EwingYoung 
William  Wolfskin,  and  J.  J.  Warner  followed  Escal- 
lante's  trail  from  Taos  across  the  mountains,   and 
thence  over  the  Mohave  Desert  to  southern  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  Santa  F^  trade  was  never  monopolized  by 
large  companies  as  was  the  fur  trade  of  the  ML^souri. 


»   Mi 


5      !• 


i  i 


•  t  I 


?  :m 


;»•, 


i     ;' 


88  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

The  annual  turnover  of  $130,000  represented  the 
investments  of  some  thirty  different  merchants,  no 
man  of  whom  contributed  more  than  a  dozen  wagons 
Tthe  train.     Describing  this  trade  in  his  Men^ou 
of  1839,  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth  states:   "More    han 
one-half  these  people  are  farmers  and  buy  then: 
goods  on  twelve  months  [credit]  and  often  mortgage 
their  faxms  and  consequently  are  obliged  to  make 
returns  the  same  year."    The  Santa  F6  Trad  mean 
to  the  men  of  Missouri  what  the  Mississippi  River 
meant  to  the  settlers  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Ohio  -an  outlet  for  then-  surplus  products  and  an 
opportunity  for  their  adventurous  young  men.    To 
the  people  of  New  Mexico  it  meant  cheaper  goods 
than  the  merchants  of  Chihuahua  could  send  them 
and  the  estabUshment  of  amicable  relations  with 
the  American  frontier.    When  Santa  Anna,  dread- 
ing lest  these  commercial  relations  might  lead  to 
political  rapprochement,   laid   an   embargo   on   the 
traffic  in  1843,  he  forced  the  outraged  people  o 
Santa  F6  to  question  whether  their  interests  would 
not  be  promoted  by  annexation  to  the  Umted  States. 

New  Mexico 
An  outcome  of  the  Santa  F^  trade  quite  as  im- 
portant as  its  financial  results  was  the  information 
concerning  the  north  Mexican  states  disseminated 
through  the  United  States  by  some  of  the  traders. 
Gregg's  Commerce  of  the  Prairies,'  written  by  a  man 
who  had  been  ten  years  in  the  trade,  was  a  conscious 
effort  in  this  direction;  but  other  men,  le«s  learned 
and  not  so  well  known,  contributed  to  our  knowledge 


'  i 


m 


m^^s^m^mm'w^^m^^w... 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  89 

of  the  rich  natural  resources  and  political  weakness 
of  our  southern  neighbors.     Jacob  Fowler  described 
the  Creoles  as  he  saw  them  in  1821-1822  as  a  happy, 
hospitable,    well-disposed    people,    whom    the    Co- 
manches   regarded   with    contempt.    The    Spanish 
traders  were  miserably  equipped  with  goods,  poor  in 
quality  and  high  in  price.     The  peasants  were  in  real 
destitution,  bread  and  meat  were  scarce  and  dear 
because  of  a  long  drought  and  a  plague  of  grass- 
hoppers, and  corn  was  selling  at  $10  a  bushel,  while 
a  mule  brought  but  S30  and  the  best  running  horse 
but  $100.    To  describe  the  crudity  of  their  living 
arrangements  and  their  moral  foibles  would  "r  quire 
the  pen  of  a  Butler  and  the  pencil  of  a  Hogarth." 

Even  more  extensive  and  graphic  was  the  account 
of  the  northern  provinces  of  Mr         given  by  J   0 
Pattie,  who  with  his  father,  SyK     ter  Pattie,  went 
to  Santa  F^  with  Bernard  Pratte's  caravan  in  the 
sprmg  of  1824.     The  Patties  had  been  pioneers  for 
three  generations,  first  in  the  "back  country"  of 
Virginia,   again   in  Kentucky,    where  men   of  the 
name  served  under  Benjamin   Logan  and  George 
itogers  Clark,  and  then  on  the  Missouri  frontier 
where  the  head  of  the  house  had  defended  Cap-au- 
^•ris  against  a  formidable  Indian  force.    Sylvester 
Pattie  was  chosen  commander  of  Pratte's  outfit  and 
had  occasion  to  display  his  prowess  in  combats  with 
i  awnees,  Comanches,  and  grizzly  bears.    Arrived  at 
;,    n/^;  the  Patties  secured  a  permit  to  trap  on 
ho  Gila  River.     Beaver  were  abundant,  though  the 
|ir  ^^.,.  not  so  line  as  on  more  northern  streams,  and 
the  take  was  a  large  one  (two  thousand  skins),  but 


,m 


,  n^  i 


■'  •  1  ! 

If    ,  •!    ' 

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1 


90  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

unfortunately  their  cache  was  rifled  by  the  Indians, 
and  the  fruit  of  the  winter's  work  lost.     A  new 
occupation  was  found  when  the  proprietor  of  the 
Santa  Rita  copper  mines,  near  the  source  of  the 
Gila  River,  engaged  the  valiant  Americans  to  defend 
his  property  against  the  Apaches,  who  were  wont  to 
pillage  his  supply  trains  and  carry  off  the  women, 
with  small  regard  for  the  cautious  Mexican  garri- 
sons.   The  elder  Pattie  remained  here  in  charge  of 
the  mines ;  but  the  son,  impelled  by  the  wanderlust 
in  his  blood,  undertook  a  second  trapping  expedi- 
tion.   He  followed  the  Gila  to  the  Colorado  and, 
returning  north  of  this  no  de  los  misterios,  found  his 
way  to  South  Pass,  to  the  Big  Horn,  and  the  Yellow- 
stone, and  finally  rode  back  across  the  Plains  to 
Santa  F6,  with  a  rich  harvest  of  furs.    The  southern 
rivers  had  apparently  never  been  hunted  before, 
and  Pattie's  men  frequently  found  a  beaver  in  every 
trap  set ;    but  the  streams  of  the  upper  Platte  he 
reported  "trapped  out."     Again  the  plucky  adven- 
turer was  bereft  of  the  profits  of  a  winter's  strenuous 
labor,  this  time  by  the  governor  of  Santa  ¥6,  who 
announced  that  the  first  year's  Ucense  did  not  hola 
for  the  second  and  ruthlessly  confiscated  the  furs. 
The  young  man  then  tried  his  luck  in  trade,  going 
to  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  and  returning  by  way  of 
El  Paso.     The  Journal  expresses  profound  contempt 
for  the  primitive  processes  of  Mexican  agriculture. 
The  clumsy  wooden  plough  is  minutely  described. 
"Their  hoes,  axes  and  other  tools  are  equally  in- 
different ;   and  they  are  precisely  in  such  a  predica- 
ment as  might  be  expected  of  a  people  who  have 


h  ;i*i.  -ii^*:   ;,*sfe£:^.^(^;pM' 


.Ki.  Dam  nL-,..ToF(orT,..vw„„D  Hkanvhks  kuxk,,  ,.s-  „rr„  !{,,,„:.. 

AND    I'LA>Tl:HKU    WITH    Mil). 


n 


i 


I'  i  I'' 


H 

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.III 

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r       if 

7 
1 

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1 1 1 


'(,1 


ni 


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l;iM 


'  4' 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE 


91 


no  saw  mills,  no  labor  saving  machinery,  and  do 
everything  by  dint  of  hard  labor,  and  are  withal 
very  indolent  and  unenterprising."     "This  province 
[Sonora]  would  be  among  the  richest  of  the  Mexi- 
can country,  if  it  were  inhabited  by  an  enlightened, 
enterprising  and  industrious  people.     Nothing  can 
exceed  the  indolence  of  the  actual  inhabitants.     The 
only  point,  in  which  I  ever  saw  them  display  any 
activity,  is  in  throwing  the  lasso,  and  in  hcjseman- 
ship.    In  this  I  judge,  they  surpass  all  other  people. 
Their  great  business  and   common   pursuit,   is  in 
noosing  and  taming  wild  horses  and  cattle."    El 
Paso  was  even  then  "a  nursery  of  the  fruit  trees,  of 
almost  all   countries   and   chmes"   surrounded   by 
"magnificent  vineyards,  .  .  .  from  which  are  made 
great  quantities  of  delicious  wine.    The  wheat  fields 
were  equally  beautiful,  and  the  wheat  of  a  kind  I 
never  saw  before,  the  stalks  generally  yielding  two 
heads  each.    The  land  is  exceedingly  rich  and  its 
fertiUty  increased  by  irrigation."    The  valley  of  the 
Pecos  was  "a  rich  and  delightful  plain,"  on  which 
lay  the  deserted  sheepfolds  and  horse  pens  where 
the  mqueros  once  kept  thvir  stock.     They  had  been 
driven  away  by  the  Apache  raids,  and  thus  "one  of 
tlie  loveliest  regions  for  farmers  that  I  have  ever 
seen"  could  not  be  utilized  for  settlement  because 
tliese  mountain  bandits  had  never  been  subdued.^ 
Pattie's  trading  enterprises  were  successful,   and 
hf  returned  to  Santa  Hita  with  a  well-lineil  purse. 
Sylvester  Pattie,  meantime,  had  secured  a  fine  tract 
of  land  which  he  was  cultivating  to  wheat  and  other 
liuv.-KtufTs,  and  was  proposing  to  purchase  supplies 


h^ 


I.'' 


i    -1 


i ; 


I    , 

i    . 

h  i 

i  I 


i 


i; 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

in  the  United  States.    Better  at  fighting  than  at 
buR-.xess,  he  had  intrusted  his  affairs  to  a  Mexican 
bookkeeper.    This  man  was  commissioned  to  go  to 
St.  Louis  for  goods,  and  the  sum  of  $30,000  was  put 
in  bis  hands;    but  he  decamped  with  the  money. 
The  owner  of  the  mines,  a  Spaniard  from  Chihuahua 
(Pablo  Guerra),  was  driven  from  the  country  by  the 
decree  of  exile  issued  by  the  Mexican  government  in 
1829,  and  the  mines  were  sold  at  a  heavy  loss  to 
McKnight  of  St.  Louis  and  Curcier  of  Philadelphia. 
The  new  owners  were  soon  driven  off  by  the  Apaches. 
The  Patties,  having  lost  all  they  had  by  the  trr"  jhery 
of  the  bookkeeper,  were  forced  to  resort  to  the 
trapper's  hazardous  trade.    Again  they  followed  the 
Gila  to  the  Colorado,  trapping  the  region  for  the 
third  time  and  loading  their  horses  with  furs.    Un- 
luckily they  understood  the  Yumas  to  indicate  that 
there  were  white  settlements  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Colorado  and  were  beguiled  into  trusting  themselves 
and  their  booty  to  boats.    A  brief  experience  of  the 
tide-vexed  current  induced  these  landsmei.  to  aban- 
don the  river,  and,  making  shore  on  the  west  bank, 
they  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Colorado  Desert  to 
San  Diego.     Echeandia,  the  governor,  regarded  tlu- 
advent   of   these   distressed   Americans   as   wanton 
trespass  and  threw  them  into  prison.    There  th" 
elder  Pattie  died,  and  ihe  son,  having  finally  sec\iroil 
his  freedom  by  serving  as  interpreter  in   an   im- 
portant business  transaction,  made  the  best  of  his 
opportunity  to  see  California.     Under  a  commis- 
sion to  vaccinate  the  neophytes,  lie  proceeded  up 
the  coast,  stopping  ut  one  mi&E5ion  after  another  anu 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE  93 

renewing  hfa  contempt  for  the  non-industrial  ways 
of  the  A.J05  del  pais.  Repeated  attempts  to  tef 
possession  of  the  fu.  cached  on  the  Colo^o  fl  Z' 
he  made  h,s  way  to  the  City  of  Mexico  in  the  uf: 

rr  ""'  "'  '^""""«  "><'«""'"y  for  his  loss"  s 
On  h,s  way  to  Vera  Cruz,  the  desperate  adTn 
turerwas  robbed  of  his  httle  all  by  highwaymen  and 
oniy  by  the  aid  of  fellow-travellers  was  renawj 
to  ^t  back  to  Cincinnati.    There  this  ruined  b^ 

msmterestrngwandererwa^discoveredh  Timothy 
W  ,'  t  T^  *"•*  enterprising  editor  of  the 
Wes^n  Monthly,. nd  induced  to  write  out  his  t„^ 
The  Journal  appeared  in  book  form  in  1831  and 
was  read  with  avidity  by  aU  men  interested  „  the 
future  of  the  Southwest.  ^ 


>  >*k  ;    ■  III 


:]-:). 

h 


i 


l^  t 


_   a  .    : 


'  u 


-m 


m  J  '.i;'i! 

»    ^ 

;|| 

'    *  i 

'  1-1 

i. 

i    ■  1 

t 

i 

''1m 

:.l^ 

^ 

CHAPTER  IV 


I 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  TEXAS 

Benton  strenuously  opposed  the  treaty  of  1819 
by  which  the  United  States  government  paid  Spain 
$5,000,000    for    the    Floridas    and    surrendered    all 
claim  to  Texas.'     He  protested  that  the  rich  country 
beyond  the  Sabine  had  been  given  away,  and  he 
"wished  to  get  it  back  whenever  it  could  be  done 
with  peace  and  honor."  ^    He  deprecated  the  in- 
trigues that  threatened  an  embro^lio  with  Mexico, 
but  was  ready  to  go  to  war  with  any  European  power 
for  the  sake  of  opening  these  fertile  lands  to  Ameri- 
can settlers.     In  1827  a  secret  offer  was  made  to 
the  Mexican  government,  — $1,000,000  for  the  Rio 
Grande  boundary  or  $500,000  for  that  of  the  Colo- 
rado ;  but  the  tender  was  rejected. 

Meantime  the  dreaded  Americans  had  succeeded 
in  planting  a  colony  in  the  very  heart  of  the  coveted 
territory.  Moses  Austin,  the  vigorous  entrepreneur 
who  had  accumulated  wealth  in  the  lead  mines  of 
Missouri,  now  faced  ruin.  He  had  been  deprived  of 
his  square  league  of  land  by  the  land  commissioners 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  failure  of  thr  Bank  of 
St.  Louis  (ISIS)  had  stripped  him  of  his  lortune.  A 
man  of  indomital)le  fortitud  ,  he  determined  to  begin 
over  again  with  an  agricultural  colony  under  Spanisli 
auspices,  and  in  1819  he  brought  his  project  before 
the  governor  of  Texas  at  San  Antonio,  having  ridchn 

94 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  TEXAS  95 

the  eight  hundred  miles  by  the  Natchitoches  Trace 
and  the  Camino  Real.    The  oath  of  allegiance  taken 
twenty  years  before  stood  him  in  good  stead  with 
the  authorities,  and  he  had  little  difficulty  in  ne- 
gotiat.ng  a  floating  grant  of  indefinite  extent  on 
condition  of  settling  thereon  three  hundred  families 
of  good  character  and  Catholic  faith.     Unhappily 
the  hardships  of  the  return  journey  broke  the  con- 
stitution of  this  heroic  man,  and  he  died  in  the 
year  following.     His  son,  Stephen  Austin,  then  not 
thirty  years  of  age,  but  already  accustomed  to  heavy 
responsibilities,   took  up  the  task  of  colonization 
He  arrived  at  San  Antonio  just  in  time  to  learn  of 
the  dec  aration  of  independence,  but  succeeded  in 
getting  his  grant  confirmed  by  Iturbide,  and  located 
his  lands  between  the  Brazos  and  Colorado  rivers 
the  old  San  Antonio  Road,  and  the  Coast.'    The 
task  of  bringing  in  colonists  of  the  right  type  was 
more    serious.    On    condition    that    the    land    be 
brought  under  cultivation  within  two  years,  Austin 
offered  to  every  aduL  male  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  for  his  wife  three  hundred  and  twenty,  for 
each  child  one  hundred  and  s^xty,  and  for  every 
s  ave  imported  eighty  acres.     The  nominal  charge 
o     twelve  and   a  half  cents  an  acre  was  barely 
ufRcent  to  repay  the  expenses  of  survey  and  the 
ninsportation    of   emigrants    and    goods.'   Variou 
untoward  happenings  balked  the  first  two  emigra- 

ProuHl  troublesome,  and  the  settlers  retreated  to 
^-a.  But^  adversity  developed  in  Au.tin  th^ 
Muaht.es  of  a  first-rate  leader.     His  tact,  courage,  and 


^\1 


Hi 


•■4 


I; 


»     ■ 


'•;'l 


1:1 


96 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


^n^ 


patience  never  failed,  he  overcame  one  obstacle  after 
another,  and  after  eight  years  of  strenuous  labor, 
he  was  able  to  turn  over  the  government  to  a  reliable 
body  of  colonists.  Austin's  settlers  were  men  from 
Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  of  the  best 
frontier  type,  energetic,  honest,  and  enduring ;  but 
they  had  the  pioneer's  devotion  to  the  rights  of  the 
individual.  They  took  their  obligations  to  the 
CathoUc  church  lightly,  refused  to  pay  the  acreage 
charge  on  their  lands,  brought  in  slaves  in  defiance 
of  Mexican  law  (1827),  and  ordered  their  Uttle 
commonwealth  in  thoroughly  American  fashion. 

Emulous    of    Austin's    achievement,    other    am- 
bitious Americans,  General  Wilkinson  among  the 
number,  were  besieging  the  Mexican  government 
for  land  grants,  and  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  deter- 
mine a  permanent  and  uniform  policy.    The  law  of 
1824  provided  that  grants  might  be  made  to  em- 
pressarios  in  the  proportion  of  fifteen  sitios  (a  square 
league  or  four   thousand  four  hundred   acres)   of 
pasture-land  and  five  lahores  (two  hundred  acres) 
of  irrigable  land  for  each  one  hundred  families  (up 
to  eight  hundred)  whom  he  should  bring  into  the 
country.     The  families  must  be  of  good  character 
and  ready  to  accept  the  Catholic  faith  and  Mexican 
allegiance.     No  grants  to  foreigners  might  be  made 
within  ten  leagues  of  the  coast  or  within  twenty 
leagues  of  the  boundary  line.*    Under  these  provi- 
sions, grants  were  made  to  various  adventurers  — 
Mexican,  American,  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish— until 
the  area  so  bic  ked  out  approached  the  present  con- 
fines of  the  state.     It  is  evident  to-day  that  the  arid 


■4 


THE  COLONIZATION  OP  TEXAS 


97 


region  of  the  Llano  Estacado  waa  imposaible  of  cul- 
t.vat.„n  and  that  the  major  pa.t  of  these  ^al 


TiXA.ml840.    Map  o,  Um,  Owm,. 


could  never   be  redeemed,  but  south  of  th.  « 
Antonio  Road  «tt,eme„t  w'ent  on  ap  ee.    The  fa': 

i.'X^X  1-:,":':^  "■^n-'™'"'  --''■'« 

fe'j'  lookeu  to   lexas  as  tho  r  p-nni     t,. 

a  series  o    fa,!^        I!       "'  ""''  ^'''  «'-'<''"'^'  »•>'«« 
-»  from    Z:l  'T"  ™''«^^''  "  -»>•  »■'  ac- 

^-'in  colony    UcwittrT"  """"*'■""'   '"  ""* 
ny,  Uewitts  colony,  and  to  Edward's 

VOL.  II  —  u 


f:|>,  I   I 


::l'[j..^ 


!'     t; 


i 


III!  I 


iH' 


t 


gg  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

enterprise  at  Nacogdoches,  Irishmen  to  the  tract 
along  the  Naecp-  River  held  by  McMuUin  and 
McGloine,  while  Mexicans  preferred  empressarios  of 
their  own  blood  and  sought  De  Leon's  settlement 
at  Victoria.  By  1830,  the  population  of  Texas  had 
grown  to  be  more  than  twenty  thousand  —  a  figure 
that  exceeded  any  reached  under  the  Spanish  regime 
-and  the  wisdom  of  peopling  a  land  with  men  of 
calibre  was  amply  vindicated. 

But  the  Mexican  government  took  alarm.     There 
was  grave  reason  to  fear  that  this  frontier  would  be 
preempted  by  Americans.     In  1830  the  Cortes  for- 
bade further  colonization  of  a  border  state,  cancelled 
all   grants  where  the   terms  were  unfulfilled,   and 
summarily   prohibited   the   importation   of   slaves. 
Futile   efforts   were   made    to   introduce    Mexican 
fjirmers,   and  convicts  were  sent   in   to  worK   the 
roads  with  the  privilege  of  becoming  citizens  and 
landowner^  as  soon  as  their  terms  expired.     The 
law  of  1834,  providing  that  would-be  settlers  from 
Mexico  be  transported  to  Texas  at  the  expense  of 
the  state  and  supported  for  the  initial  year  at  the 
rate  of  four  reals  a  day  and  that  to  each  family  be 
given  farm  implements,  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  land 
to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  and  forty-tv^o  acres  ' 
had    no    appreciable    effect.     In    1835    there    were 
twenty   thousand    Americans   and    three    thousand 
Mexicans  in  the  province.     It  was  quite  impossible 
for  i^e  ephemeral  governnien*  s  that  followed  eacli 
other  in  rapid  succession  at  the  City  of  Mexico  to 
enforce  measures  of  repression  in  far-away  Texas, 
and  the  restrictive  legislation  amounted  to  no  more 


I 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  TEXAS  99 

than  a  helpless  threat.  When  the  decree  (1829) 
declaring  all  children  born  of  slaves  on  Mexican 
soil  emancipated  at  the  age  of  fourteen  was  pro- 
tested by  the  Americans,  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  set  free  one  thousand  slaves,  Guerrero  ex- 
empted Texas  from  its  operation." 

Under  Austin's  restraining  influence,  theTexans  pro- 
ceeded  with  some  regard  to  their  obligations  toward 
the  tumultuous  republic  to  which  they  had  sworn 
allegiance,  until  the  Centralist  revolution  capped  the 
climax  of  tyranny  and  misrule.     Then  they,  in  com- 
mon with  other  Federalists,  demanded  a  return  to 
the  constitution  of  1824.     Their  grievances,  as  sum- 
marized by  the  contention  of  1833,  were  religious 
intolerance,  the  exclusion  of  immigration  from  the 
United  States,  the  perversion  of  land  grants    the 
refusal  of  trial  by  jury  and  grants  in  aid  of  public 
education,  the  imposition  of  customs  duties,  and  the 
excesses  of  the  military.     The  protestants  demanded 
a  separate  state  government  for  Texas.     Far  from 
complying  with  this  reasonable  request,  Santa  Anna 
increased  his    garrisons   and  finally,   San    Antonio 
having  beer  taken  by  the  insurgent  forces,  marched 
to  Its  relief.     The  massacre  of  the  Alamo  converted 
the  movement  for  self-government  into  a  war  for 
independence.     The  issue  could  not  long  be  doubtful. 
•  anta  Anna  was  .ar  from  his  base  of  supplies  and 
couI(    not  count  on   the  support  of  the   Mexican 
People,  and  his  troops  were  largely  convicts,  serving 
under  compulsion.     The  Texans,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  fighting  for  their  homes  and  the  institutions 
whK'h  they  held  essential  to  liberty.     They  were 


.'•m'l 


•  I 


1  i 


•^i  i- 


t  ; 


'i. 


l:i;i  I 


^^3:- 


100 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


f; 


valiant,  self-reliant,  hardy  frontiersmen,  excellent 
marksmen  and  accustomed  to  Indian  warfare. 
They  were  quickly  reenforced  by  volunteer  com- 
panies from  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Tennessee, 
and  Sam  Houston,  ex-governor  of  Tennessee  and 
a  prot^g6  of  President  Jackson,  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  their  little  force.  In  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto  the  Texans  proved  of  what  stuff  they  were 

made. 

When  Burr,  an  old  man,  broken  in  health  and 
fortune,  read  the  exploits  of  Sam  Houston  and  his 
fellow-filibusters,  he  exclaimed,  "There!  You  see? 
I  was  right!  I  was  only  thirty  years  too  soon. 
What  was  treason  in  me  thirty  years  ago  is  pa- 
triotism now !"  '^ 

Don  Juan  Almonte,  the  patriotic  Mexican  who 
made  a  tour  of  inspection  through  Texas  in  1834, 
regarded  this  northernmost  state  as  Mexico's  most 
valuable  possession,  and  he  deplored  the  neglect  that 
was  leaving  its  colonization  to  foreigm  is.     In  soil, 
climate,  and  productive  capacity,  it  had  no  equal 
among  the  federated  states,  and  its  conunercial  pos- 
sibilities were  unrivalled  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    A 
series  of  first-rate  harbors  situated  midway  between 
Vera  Cruz  and  New  Orleans  gave  promise  of  abun- 
dant traffic,  so  soon  as  there  were  goods  to  export. 
Remoteness  from  the  conflicts  that  were  devastat- 
ing the  older  states  left  the  Texans  at  peace  to  pur- 
sue the  cultivation  of  the  land,  the  raising  of  cattle, 
the  building  of  roads  and  towns  ;  and  their  industrial 
enterprise*  far  ontran  those  of  less  favored  section^ 
of  the  Republic.     The  Spanish-speaking  population 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  TEXAS  loi 

r  ""'''  *■*"  ,*'""  '*  >""'  b<«"  in  ISM,  but  the 
Amencan  .settlements  were  fl„uri,hi„g.  I„  Z 
central  department  of  Bra.ox  there  were  ten  .h, 
-nd  people,  and  in  the  Nacogdoehrreil tn" 
thousand  more.  This  was  not  due  to  the  .eal  rf 
the  cmpres^arios.  Most  of  the  Ameriean  mmi 
grants  had  eome  on  their  own  initiative  and  at  Zr 

h  ates  and  they  were  lawless  and  intraetable  men  who 
brought  m  slaves  in  defianee  of  the  law  of  the  land 
I^  wa.  of  supreme  importanee  that  puWie-.pir  "j 

country.    .Vlmome  announced  his  intention  of  lead 
ng  the  way  and  declared  his  eonviotion  tha  tat 
eeven-league   grant    in    Texa.   eould    be   speed«y 
transformed  mto  a  valuable  estate     «„-i       , '."""'^ 
were  admirably  adapted  toT  gro'     /"o    er^ 
^.ar,  eorn,  tobacco,  and  wheat,  while  the  nat"::,' 
pastures  would  feed  great  herds  of  eattie     Priee 
were  low  for  the  time  being,  because        prod"  " 

ig  made  in  the  navigation  of  the  Sabine    the 

-c:Lt':n^:-t\rard- •" 

manu  a    ures  unprofitable,  but  two  or  three  e"  on 
airy  rrwar'^^--'---f  shoes  were 
^^Tiat  mieht  have  h^Ar.  fV  ?    .. 

-  ^  -  .terfe^^:^:^:-:- ::■— 


i-i,    i 


)      ! 


'    »    H 


m 

1^  ,1 


102 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


project,  it  is  impossible  to  say;  but  one  thing  is 
evident,  Mexico  could  offer  little  better  colonizing 
material  in  1835  than  in  1721. 

Texas  did  not  present  an  alluring  prospect  to  the 
immigrant,  by  whichever  route  he  entered  it.    If  he 
came  by  steamer  up  the  Red  River  to  Natchitoches, 
the  usual  means  of  access  from  the  western  states, 
he  must  cross  a  stre^-h  of  pine  barren?  and  clay 
hills;    if  he  arrived  ./  ship  from  New  Orleans  or 
New  York,  the  coast  appeared  an  uninviting  waste 
of  sand  bars  and  shallow  lagoons,  and  the  lowlands 
beyond   were  wet   and  malarial.     On   the   side   of 
Mexico,  the  sterile  and  waterless  tract  between  the 
Rio  Grande  and  the  Nueces  River  seemed  impossible 
of    settlement.    Curiously   enough,   the   ten-league 
strip  forbidden  to  foreign  empressarios  by  the  law  of 
IL  1  was  precisely  the  least  desirable  portion  of 
Texas.    The  interior  was  a  delectable  country.     A 
gently  rolling  plain  drained  by  the  half  dozen  rivers 
that  flowed  from  the  Llano  Lstacado  to  the  Gulf, 
wooded  in  the  eastern  section  and  open  prairie  west 
of  the  Trinity,  offered  to  the  pioneer  a  wonderful 
combination  of  fertile  soil,  all-the-year-round  pastur- 
age,  and   down-stream   transportation.     The    arid 
plains  were  covered  with  the  mesquit-grass  which 
grew  low  and  thick  and  was  self-curing.     In  the 
wetter  regions,  the  indigenous  growth  was  tall  and 
coarse  and  ran  up  to  a  height  of  eight  or  nine  feet, 
heavily  seeded.    In  the  river  bottoms   the   cane- 
brakes   grew  rank  and  high,  providing  abundant 
fodder.     So  mild  were  the  winters  that  there  was 
nowhere  need  of  stabling,  even  for  horses,  and  water 


I 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  TICXAS  103 

and   salt   were  always   within   reaci,.     Hor,    too 
"f '  "^^  '«  -  "'  >ar.e  in  eonfidente  t  at 
'"t  would  fatten  m  due  time  on  the  native  peanuts 
or  the  mast  of  the  live-oak  forests.     I,  was  a  eom 
mon  saj-ing  among  the  pioneers  that  "in  the  North 
man  hved  for  the  beast,  while  in  Texas  the  bel^ 
l.ved  for  man."    Aecording  to  the  custom  of  tte 
south    Umted    States,    the   euWvated    helds    w  re 
fenced  m  and  the  Uve  stock  was  free  to  roam  th^ 
open  range.    Only  at  the  annual  round-up  did  the 
ranchman  take  account  of  his  property  and  brand 
the  yearhng  calves.  <-     J     uu  oranu 

Men  of  experience  judged  the  prairies  of  Texas 

ten  hs  of  the  and  was  cultivable  and  the  same  crops 

ou  d  be  grown,  with  sugar  and  cotton  addeT    Th: 

ettler  from  ea.t  of  the  llississipp,  accustomed  to 

he  exhaustmg  labor  of  clearing  the  forest  befo  e 

ploughing  could  begin,  who  had  often  seen  the  better 

port  o.  a  man's  -If.  spent  in  reclaiming  a  few  paVches 

..cornfields  which  still  remained  e'ncumbeC  by 

jo.ced  m  the  sunny  open  prairie  where   the  soil 

v.mtage  of  Texas  land  as  follows  :  "A  heavy  plough 
«ak  up  ,|,e  toug:,  sward  and  turn  over  ,he  soil. 

CO  eredtrT  "  "'"'^^  '"  "-  '"rows  and 
eoiered  w,th  a  hoe,  which  with  an  occasional  light 
Ploughmg  to  clear  ..way  the  weeds,  i,    i  eonly  labo 
bestowed  upon  it  until  it  is  fit  ,„  gan,er  By 


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104 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


turning  the  grass  down,  exposing  the  roots  to  the 
8un,  and  leaving  the  soil  undisturbed,  the  sward 
becomes    melbwed  in  a  single  season,  and  while 
undergoing  the  process  of   decomposition,   affords 
nourishment  to  the  growing  corn.     In  the  ensuing 
spring,  the  roots  of  the  wild  grass  are  completely 
rotted,  and  the  plough  passes  through  a  rich  light 
mold  fit  for  all  the  purposes  of  husbandry.  .  .  . 
The  superior  faciUty   of  working   open   land,   the 
saving  in  the  wear  of  farm  implements,  the  economy 
of  time,  and,  of  cours'^,  the  greater  degree  of  cer- 
tainty in  the  farmer's  calculations,  witu  the  com- 
parative exemption  from  local  disease,  give  a  pre- 
eminence to  the  prairie  over  the  timbered  land  not 
to  be  materially  reduced  by  any  inconvenience  that 
may  be   occasioned  by  an  inadequate  supply  of 
wood.    It  would  be  sounder  ^  onomy  for  a  farmer 
to  settle  in  the  midst  of  a  prairie  and  draw  his  fuel 
and  fence  wood  five  miles,  than  to  undertake  the 
clearing  of  a  farm  in  the  forest.  .  .  .  Supposing  the  soil 
of  both  to  be  of  equal  (juality,  a  laborer  can  cultivate 
two-thirds  more  of  prairie  than  o;  timber' ;i  land; 
the  returns  are  larger,  and  the  capital  to  be  investetl 

less."  8 

The  most  serious  handicap  on  the  settler  in  Texas 
was  the  uncertainty  as  to  land  titles.  The  one  em- 
pressario  who  had  fulfilled  the  terms  of  his  contract 
with  the  Mexican  government  was  Stephen  Austin, 
and  therefore  on  his  tracts  only  could  clear  title  be 
given.  Bradbury  and  Staples  (the  Rio  Grande  Com- 
pany) had  been  'i  aied  (1828)  for  fifteen  years  tlie 
exclusive  prlvilij/     ci  cutting  steamers  on  the  l\\-'- 


THE  COLO.v  ZATION  OF  TEXAS 


105 

complement  of  people,  and  his  title  lapsed   of  hi 
ernmenf      n«  t  "'^ '^I'^ea  to  the  gov- 

netTnd  7«     n       "  ''"'  '^"""^'  unfortunate.     Bur- 
net and  Zavalla  apparently  had  no  intention  of  eol 
onization.  but  hastened  to  dispose  of  tllir"?  ' 

filers  ,vere  miVI  in  i„.  i  i.         .  '*'^''"^<.       ah  soi- 

'Vtre  paid  in  land  bount  es  anfJ  lon.i 
offerprJ  tr^  tu     1  •  .  «"iH,>,  and  land  sonp  was 

„,  n -"f  ""  '""  "■"  'lonatinns  ww  in  f|,o  „„,„.p 


m  Rrauis,  and  the  effort  to 


loeate  these 


was 


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IK 


106 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


attended  with  oxuaordinary  difficultioa,  since  no 
official  system  of  survey  and  rcRistration  was  as  yet 
provided.  Texas  in  the  forties  was  the  paradise  of 
lawyers,  as  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  natl  been  fifty 
years  before. 

Durinp  tlie  decade  following  on  the  attainment 
of  independence,  the  Texan.s  were  hard  bestead  to 
maintain   autonomy.     Rai<ls   from   Mexico,    Indian 
forays  on  the  northern  border,  and  the  prospect  of 
interference  on  the  part  of  France  and  C'ireat  Britain 
rendered  the  task  trebly  difficult.     The  embryo  gov- 
ernment was  saddled  with  heavy  obligations  — the 
maintenance  of  an  army  and  navy  in  addition  t(> 
ordinary  expenses  — and    the  revenues  were   inevi- 
tably scanty.     The  population  was  wholly  agricul- 
tural, and  land,  the  only  taxable  property,  ha<l  but 
low  value.     Foreign  trade  was  slight  and  the  preju- 
dice against  the  levy  of  customs  duties  was  strong. 
8\'ch  credit  as  the  new-born  state  could  rally  in  the 
Uniteil  States  and  Europe  was  utilized  to  the  break- 
ing point.     Bonds  were  issued,  land  scrip  sold,  ami 
promissory  notes  offereil  in  payment  of  debt,  until 
such  obligations  depreciated  to  twenty  cents  on  a 
dollar.     In    1841    the   total   indebtedness  amounttd 
to  $7,500,t)(H),  six  times  the  total  revenue,  and  there 
was  no  relief  except  in  the  drastic  curtailment  of  ex- 
penses.    The  administration  of  government  was  at 
a  standstill.     There  were  no  jails  and  no  police,  tii" 
postal  service  had  collapsed,  and  only  a  handful  '  t 
soldiers  were  available  for  the  defence  of  the  front  iir 
Certain  enactments  of  the  newly  organized  congrc^^ 
involved    the*   state    in    prulungcd   embarrassmeii!-. 


Ih 


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"iTSS^pBS^- 


THE  COLONIZATION  OK  TI-JXAS  107 

e.g.  every  head  of  a  family  locating  in  Texas  was 
promised  one  silio  and  one  labor  from  the  puhlie 
domam  -a  heedless  generosity  whu-h  uUraeted  n 
horde  of  ne  er-do-weels  and  speculators  ar.d  made 
heavy  drafts  on  the  one  source  of  wealth 

Tlje  only  salvation  of  Texa.s  was  in  annexation  to 
the  United  States,  and  for  this  issue  of  the  long 
struggle,   there  wa.s  good   prospect.     To   the  slave 
states  of  the  Union.  Texas  was  an  economic  neces- 
sity.    Georgia,   Alabam-  ,  and   Mississippi   had  one 
after  another  been   occupied  by   younger  sons  arui 
surplus  slaves  from  the  seaboard  states.     I.>uisiana 
was  already  preempted,  and  th.  fat  land,  beyond  the 
Sabme  were  regarded  a.s  the  inevitable  destinv  of  the 
slavocracy.     Moreover,    ^he  great   majority' of  the 
settlers  m  Texas  were  Southerners  and  slaveholders. 
1  heir  declaration   of  independence  was  signed   by 
hfty-six  men,  of  whom  three  -.    .e  Mexicans,   five 
were  from  Northern  states  of  the  Union,  and  fortv- 
e.ght    from  slaveholdir.g    .tato-.     The  constitution 
a«lopted   by   this   constituency   was   distincth    pro- 
^avery.     F^de  Section  IX:   ''Congress  shall  pa-s'no 
l.ins  to  prohibit  emigrants  of  the  United  States  of 
America  from  bringing  their  slaves  into  the  Republic 
u    h  them  and  hohling  them  by  the  same  tenure  bv 
Hhich  such  slaves  were  held  in  the  United  States  nr.r 
sha    congress  i.ave  power  to  emancipate  slave.  •   nnr 
^  any  slave  holder  be  allowed  to  emancipate  his 
.her  slave  or  slaves  without  the  consent  of  congress 

^v.thout  the  limits  of  the  Republic.     Xo  free  nerson 
'^'"^•'i"  ^*>«eent,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  shall  be 


m 


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108 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


I .  I' 


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i  I ; 


5      : 


pennitted  to  reside  manently  in  the  Republic, 
without  the  consent  .  congress."  This  acceptance 
of  slavery  as  a  fundamental  institution  attracted  fa- 
vorable notice  in  the  Southern  states.  The  legisla- 
tures of  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  Tennessee  peti- 
tioned Congress  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  while 
the  statesmen  of  the  seaboard  states  congratulated 
their  constituents  on  the  prospective  rise  in  the  price 
of  their  most  profitable  export.  Eight  Northern 
legislatures  promptly  protested  annexation.  In- 
terest in  the  annexation  project  was  disseminated  by 
three  land  companies  financed  in  New  York,  which, 
having  secured  concessions  from  certain  empressarios 
who  had  been  unable  to  colonize  their  grants,  pro- 
ceeded to  sell  these  very  dubious  properties  to  all  the 
gullible  whom  thej'  could  lay  hands  on.  This  land 
scrip  was  scattered  throughout  the  Northern  states 
and  served  to  attach  men  who  had  purchased  it  to 
the  annexation  project,  their  best  chance  of  getting 
their  titles  ratified. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  Tyler's  secretary  of  state,  suc- 
ceeded m  negotiating  an  annexation  treaty  with  the 
government  of  Texas,  but  it  was  defeated  in  the  Sen- 
ate (thirty-five  to  sixteen).  The  resentment  among 
pro-slavery  men  against  this  thwarting  of  their  hopes 
ruined  the  Whig  party  in  the  South,  while  the  out- 
and-out  opponents  of  slavery  organized  the  Liberty 
party.  Conservative  men,  generally,  dreaded  the 
reopening  of  the  slavery  question,  and  feared  that  the 
addition  of  a  territory  south  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise Line  and  large  enough  to  form  five  states  would 
overturn  the  balance  of  power  on  which  the  curtaii- 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  TEXAS  109 

ment  of  the  slave  system  depended.   The  Democrats 
however,  declared  for  the  "re-annexation  of  Texas  "' 
and  their  nominee,  James  K.   Polk  of  Tennessee 
was  elected  (1844)  by  a  good  majority  of  the  electoral 
college,  although  the  popular  vote  was  quite  evenly 
divided.     With  this  apparent  sanction  of  their  policy 
the  annexationists  abandoned   the  treatv  and  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  through  both  houses  of  Congress  a 
joint  resolution  in  favor  of  incorporating  Texas  into 
tne  Union. 


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PART  IV 
THE  TRANSCONTINENTAL  MIGRATION 


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CHAPTER  I 

ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON 

Section  I 

The  Traders 

nJr^TT"'''    "o™-"'"'    of   population    was 
checked  at  the  farther  confines  of  Arkansas,  Mk- 
«ou„,  and  Iowa  by  the  apparently  sterile  nature  of 
the  seuH-and  plams  and  by  the  Indian  reservations 
which  the  government  had   located   in   this   con- 
fessed^, hopeless  region.    But  beyond  the  Rockies, 
o .  the  far  Pacific  Coast,  rumor  reported  a  region 
of  hmitless  and  quite  unexploited  resources.    The 
Oregon  country  had  been  discovered,  explored  and 
even  colonized  by  Americans,  but  with  the  l„;s  of 

ha  T'  H  ^"""^  '^'^^  """  "^  Po-bilities 
had  passed  under  control  of  the  British  fur  com- 
panies, and  the  Boston  ships  and  the  St.  Louis  fur 
traden,  were  treated  as  interlopers.    The  immense 

andT'  Tm  "  V  "-^  """^""'^  "^"^  Company 
and  It,  h,gh|y  efficient  organisation  enabled   the 

chef  factor  to  hold  any  Yankee  competitor  at  bay. 

traded''  /  "^'7  "'  •'"'"'  Occupation.  American 
traders  nad  equal  rights  with  the  British  in  the 
Oregon  country ;  but  it  was  the  policy  of  the  Honor- 
able  Company  to  keep  them  east  of  the  Blue  Moun- 
"I'M.  1  his  was  not  a  difficult  task,  since  the  British 
goods  were  of  better  quahty  than  could  be  made  „ 

VOL.  II  —  I  ..n 


113 


i  iSi'i 


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hu 


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il'ii:   . 


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I.  ^' 


\< 


114 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


the  States  and,  since  they  paid  no  duty,  might  be 
sold  at  lower  prices  than  the  merchants  from  St. 
Louis  could  afford.  IVIoreover,  the  costs  and  risks  of 
overland  transportation  were  far  greater  than  by  sea, 
so  that,  in  their  ventures  on  the  Columbia  and  Snake 
riverh,  the  Americans  were  hopelessly  handicapped. 
Even  in  the  open  territory  of  the  upper  Missi  a-i 
and  the  Great  Basin,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
was  able  to  compete  on  equal  terms.  Its  factors  did 
not  hesitate  to  put  up  the  price  of  furs  to  ten  times 
the  normal  figure  in  order  to  drive  out  an  American 
competitor.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Company  to 
set  aside  an  annual  guarantee  fund  to  make  good 
these  business  emergencies. 

The  Journals  of  Lewis  and  Clark  had  been  brought 
out  in  popular  form  by  Nicholas  Biddle  of  Philadel- 
phia in  1811 ;  Patrick  Gass'  even  more  readable  diary 
was  published  a  year  or  two  earlier.  Both  accounts 
of  the  wonderful  transcontinental  journey  were  widely 
read,  and  the  possibilities  of  the  Columbia  as  well  as 
those  of  the  Missouri  became  matters  of  common 
knowledge.  A  certain  schoolmaster  of  Boston,  Hall 
J.  Kelley  by  name,  whose  interest  in  the  Columbia 
region  was  first  excited  by  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
Journals,  had  been  accunmlating  all  the  information 
to  be  found  in  the  descriptions  given  by  fur  traders 
and  travellers,  and  had  arrived  at  the  conviction 
that  the  opportunities  there  afforded  for  commerce, 
manufactures,  and  agriculture  far  exceeded  those  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  He  was  fully  assured  that 
the  American  government  had  clear  title  to  the  ter- 
ritory—  based  on  the  discoveries  of  Gray  and  Ken- 


(^:13 


mM"iui fimriiifr-- mmr^ir-'-r  -^ « 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON 
drick  -  from  the  forty-second  parallel  to  Puget  Sound 
Hudson  s  Bay  Company's  assumption  of  trade  monop- 

United  States,  he  was  persuaded,  could  best  be  made 
good  by  the  actual  occupation  of  the  land  by  imeri 
can  c,t,.ens.     To  this  end  Kelley  organised  '(1829, 
the  American  Society  for  the  Settlement  of  Oregon 

l7Z    I      rf  *'  "'  *''^  ^°»P'"'^  »200,000) 
was  to  be  subscribed  m  the  first  instance  by  public- 

take  one  ,S100  share.     It  was  anticipated  that  the 
governmen    would  lend  aid  to  this  national  entor- 

who  wtn  '"  "''^""^  "'  ^'^  character 

>vho  w  sh   to  emigrate  to  Oregon  Territory."     It 

set  forth  the  unexcelled   ad,antages  of  the  lower 
cou7^'  ^"'T•'''"^  '™  """"'^  "•>-«  eattle 
a  fertile  soil  requinng  only  to  be   ploughed  and 
Planted  to  yield  better  crops  than  New  England  ha 
ver  known  inexhaustible  forests  from  whi^h  timbc 
™ght  be  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world,'  admiraWe 

RHTwhtr  "'""  f"'"'"  "^  t»^  ColumbL 
iner,  which  was  navigable  two  hundred  miles  from 

he  sea,  and  by  the  many  natural  harborXl" 

e  ^ception  of  sea-g„i„g  vessels.     The  comi^  1 

"  Nmth  .America,  the  Pacific  Isles,  and  the  Ea.st  Indie, 

-    eventually  accrue  to  this  favored  territo" 

^  memorial  addressed  to  Congress   asking  fo; 

troops,  arfilerv,   militarv  ar,„«    ,,  i  ■ 

war   tor  ti,    J  "■■         "">  ■'"n-^'  "i"'  munition.s  of 

"r,  tor  the  defence  and  security  of  the  contem- 


;  -ii 

1  I, 


:  t  '   I    »      1  '  '«! 


.  i 


•if 


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1' 

"  ,i 


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t 


116 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


plated  settlement,"  the  Society  urged  as  a  reavson 
for  aggressive  action  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  the  fact  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
was  taking  steps  to  colonize  the  country.  "Already, 
have  they,  flourishing  towns,  strong  fortifications, 
and  cultivated  farms."  In  order  to  forestall  this 
alien  occupation,  the  Society  petitioned  for  a  grant 
of  power  corresponding  to  those  of  the  great  trad- 
ing company  and  the  extinction  of  the  Indian  title 
to  the  Multnomah  Valley  lands.  A  republican  form 
of  government  was  in  contemplation  with  freedom 
of  the  press,  freedom  of  worship,  etc. 

Several  hundred  persons  were  ready  to  migrate  to 
the  land  of  promise,  but   the  great  expedition   was 
delayed  from  time  to  time.     The  government   was 
slow  to  act  on  Kelley's  proposition  and  assert  its 
rights  of  exclusive  possession.     The  treaty  of  Joint 
Occupation  was  renewed  in  1828,  and  no  guarantee 
as  to  squatters'  rights  could  be  given.     Moreover, 
the  fur  traders  of  St.  Louis,  who  did  not  relish  ihe 
prospect    of    having    their    hunting    grounds    pre- 
empted by  farmers,  threw  various  obstacles  in  tbo 
way,  exaggerating  the  difficulties  of  the  rr«ute.  th< 
hostility  of  the  Indians,  etc.     I^i  his  Momu~Ji  ■     'hi 
Oregon  Expedition,  Kelley  quotes  from  tht    T'"-*.n\ 
report  of   Mr.  Pilcher,  Indian   agent,  to  tht-  -«>--=- 
tary  of  war  to  prove  with  what  f  ase  tkt-    iKi-r- 
across    the   mountains    might    '  ■    maue    "^t    t: 
of   the  South  Pass    and  the  ^^i:Ke  anc       .*iinr 
rivers.2    For   the   character  of      le  ^niuasr-  o     o* 
Pacific  slone.  Kellev  had  no  fears         THp-^  it^      :  : 
of  the  Societv  of  white  men,  ant    wil  loni.  ;oritin;  •' 


31. 


i* 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  117 

to  appreciate,  and  promptly  to  reciprocate  honest 
and  fa,r  deahng.     Nothing  is  „,oro  remote  fromtte 

ntenfons  of  the  Society  than  t„  oppress  them   or 
to  occupy  their  lands  without  malcing  ample  l," 
satisfactory  remuneration.  ...     it  is  desired  tha 
each  [  „d,a„J  head  of  a  fan.ily  receive  a  lot  oU^ 
That  the  Chmnook  tribe  be  located  on  the  b^k 
lots,  m  the  seaport  town,  where  they  can  be  in- 
structed,   and    encouraged    in    cultivating    garde„ 

To  each  settler  was  to  be  assigned,  after  New  Eng- 

and  precedent,  a  town  lot  of  forty  acres  and  fann  la  fd 

0  theamountof  one  hundred  and  sixtyacres,  wi,   pl^^ 

turenghtsm  the  public  land  in  addition.    ThU  daim 

guaranteed  to  every  emigrant  above  fourteen  ta^ 

of  age  (except  married  won.en),  was  to  be  converted 

TtepoiTrr"'  "*  "'"■'  '»•">--' occupation 
The  pomt  of  departure  was  to  be  St.  Louis.     From 
hat  pomt,  travelling  expenses  were  to  be  met  from 
the  common  stock,  excepting  arms,  knapsack. Ch 

«.:.rd:irof^-r"'"^T-'^^^ 

^h.r^        a  ^^,- -;:;;;—  .eve. 

gxl  conduct^  Captains  elected  by  .ach  cohort  of 
«  ty  were  ,0  have  absolute  authority  .„  rouU:     The 

n  e  ;"„:  r?  t-  '•"  '"^  -^'^  --  -o  n-^- 

pe  es  of  ,"""  ''^■^■.  :'  ^">'"'  """K.-  It  fell  to 
P'«es  of  ,ts  own  weight.  The  date  of  denarture 
^..s  postponed  from  1828  to  ,8.30,  from  1830  to 

latter  year  "' THp t    ^'i  '''  ^''^  '^"^'^^  "^  ^^^ 

>ear.     These   delays   were   discouraging   to 


«  : 


■f; 


/.  if 


',4^1- 


- 1 


Ji  I  1 


"■'J 


.   i 


<  .« 


! 


f-    ! 


•r;i 


f  r 


118 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


the  more    active   and   practical    members   of   the 
society. 

One  of  the  men  whom  Kelley's  propaganda  had 
deeply  impressed  was  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth  of  Cam- 
bridge, a  man  of  affairs  who  had  already  achieved 
an  enviable  reputation  for  business  acumen  as  a 
pioneer  in  the  ice  business.    His  aspirations  were, 
however,  not  poUtical  or  social,  but  purely  financial. 
He  thought  he  saw  in  the  unoccupied   territory 
between  the  Columbia  and  the  Spanish  boundary 
an  opportunity  for  developing  a  trade  such  as  might 
eventually  rival  that  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany itself.    The  success  of  the  Boston  houses  that 
had  sent   trading  ships    to    the    northwest    coast 
seemed  to  justify  his  hopes ;   the  failure  of  Astor's 
enterprise  he  thought  was  purely  accidental,  due  to 
over-confidence  in  British  agents  and  the  outbreak 
of  war ;   the  achievements  of  the  St.  Louis  traders, 
handicapped  as  they  were  by  a  long  overland  carriage, 
argued  larger  profits  for  a  post  established  within 
reach  oi  the  Pacific  and  possessed  of  an  all-water  route 
to  New  York  and  European  markets.     Wyeth  meant 
to  avail  himself  of  Kelley's  crusade  and  so  applied 
for  a  "scituation"  for  himself  and  his  brother  Jacob 
ill  the  expedition  scheduled  for  January,  1832 ;  but 
when    the   date   of   departure   was   deferred    from 
month  to  month,  and  especially  when  he  learned 
that   it   was  proposed  to  burden   the  party  with 
women  and  children,  he  became  convinced  that  lie 
must  act  independently  of  the  Boston  enthusiast. 
His  project  wjis  explained  at  length  to  various  b\isi- 
ness  men  of  Boston,  New  York,  and  Baltimore  wiium 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  119 

he  hoped  to  induce  to  contribute  capital.  A  party 
of  picked  men  was  to  go  overland  to  the  Columbia 
and  there,  at  a  post  sufficiently  remote  from  Fort 
Vancouver  to  give  no  umbrage  to  the  Great  Com- 
pany, furs  and  salmon  and  such  agricultural  products 
as  might  prove  feasil>le  were  to  bo  gathercl  and 
stored  A  Boston  firm,  Hall,  Tucker  &  A^-iHia.us 
agreed  to  send  a  ship  round  the  Horn  stocked  with' 

the  bills  for  the  goods,  bought  on  a  year's  credit 
would  be  paid  out  of  the  return  cargo,  and  that  a 
very  considerable  profit  would   be  realized   bv  -ill 
connected  with  the  enterprise.     Wyeth  secured  the 
SoOOO   needed    to   equip   the   overland    -nrty   nnd 
succeeded  in  enlisting,  under  a  .ive-year   contract, 
thirty-two  able-bodied   and   intelligent  men      The 
organ,,ation  was  on  a  profit-sharing  basis,  fiuniliar 
•>    he  Cloucester  fishermen.     After  the  initial  est 
f>ad  been  paid,  the  net  proceeds  were  to  f,e  divi.led 
l^'Ki.    parts  to  the  promoter  of  the  enterprise,  (wo  to' 
1^     rother  Jacob  who  was  to  act  as  surg;>n  and 
P^l^^«c•lan,  and  one  part  to  each  of  the  fort  v  men  who 
w.Toto  make  up  the  full  tale  of  the  working  force 
Hyoth  took  great  pains  to  infor.a  lumself  as  to" 

'''y'<>"^>tH»ns  of  success  in  the  fur  trade  and  the 
-t  methods  of  .atclu.:^.  pi.kiing  ami  sn.oking  sal- 

-''.raismg  and  curing  ..bacco  etc.,  and  he  spared 
;^   labor  HI  perfecting  the  .letails  of  his  e.,uipment 

'Hearty  left  B..ston  in  Nfarch.,s:i2.  and  j!.„lnev:!; 

Liver      t!"    ''  T  "'  '''^'^'•"'^''  ^"'<'  *'-  ^'-> 
J'vcr      The  horseback  journey  across    the   Plains 

iiiuur    ui   ««inij)any    with    ,^ 


lett(- 


brigad( 


■  '  i 


'U 


^il 


I-' 


^;rt 


120 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


I  „|i!  '■ 


I  I!  : 


but  its  hardships  staggered  two  of  the  men  (Jacob 
Wyeth  and  young  Livermore),  an  encounter  with 
the  Blackfeet  at  the  famous  rendezvous  of  Pierre's 
Hole'  disheartened  the  rest,   and  all  but  eleven 
turned   back,   taking   their  riding  horses.    Undis- 
couraged,  Wyeth  proceeded  on  his  way,  in  com- 
pany with  Milton  Sublette,  and,  aided  by  the  friendly 
Shoshones,  trapped  the  streams  that  empty  into 
Snake  River,  and  crossed  the  Blue  Mountains  to 
Fort  Walla  Walla,  where  his  party  was  hospitably 
received.     "At  the  post  we  saw  a  bull,  cow  &  calf, 
hen  &  cock,  pumpkins,  potatoes,  corn,  all  of  which 
looked  strange  and  unnatural  and  Uke  a  dream." 
At  Fort  Vancouver,  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  no  less 
courteous,  dispensing  the  hospitality  of  the  place 
with  an  Old  World  courtesy  very  congenial  to  the 
wanderer  from  C^ambridge.     Here  bad  news  awaited 
the  promoter  of  American  trade.     The  supply  ship, 
Sultana,  had  been  wrecked  off  Society  Islands,  and 
her  cargo  was  a  total  loss,  while  the  remaining  men 
asked  to  be  released  from  tlioir  engagement.^     "I 
could  not  refuse.     They  had  already  suffered  much, 
and  our  number  was  so  small  that  the  prospect  of 
remuneration  to  them  was  very  small.  .  .  .  They  were 
good  men  and  persevered  as  long  as  perseverance 
would  do  good.     I  am  now  afloat  on  the  great  sia 
of  life  without  stay  or  support,  but  in  good  hands, 
i.e.  myself  and  providence  and  a  few  of  the  H.  H. 
Co.  who  are  perfect  gentlemen."  *    Nothing  remained 
of  the  great  enterprise  but  the  furs  cached  in  the 
interior,  and  the  recovery  of  these  was  more  than 
doubtful. 


't  ! 


..1  ■    . 


"^K^ 


.y- ! 


rtt  ?  I 


tir 


^1} 


ill 


■^m.  \ 


/  * 


l> 


t 

i 

iiJ 

l! 

ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  121 

Wyeth  had  surrendered  an  honorable  and  lucra- 
tive position  at  home  for  this  ambitious  project 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  he  now  faced  ruin ;  but 
pride  and  determination    to  wring  success  out  of 
defeat,  held  him  to  his  task.    Valuable  experience 
at  least  could  be  won  from  his  unlucky  plight,  and 
with  this  in  view  he  sought  employment  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  as  an  independent  trader 
operating  south  of  the  Columbia.     The  proposition 
was  forwarded  to  London  and,  biding  an  answer, 
Wyeth  submitted  to  Captain  Bonneville  a  plan  for 
a  joint  hunt  up  the  Willamette  Valley  and  beyond 
the  mountains  as  far  as  the  Spanish  settlements  on 
San  Francisco  Bay.    Having  collected  twelvemen  and 
thirty-four  horses  and  pack  mules,  he  set  out  for  the 
rendezvous  at  Fort  Bonneville  on  Green  River,  where 
he  found  the  brigades  of  the  American  Fur  Company 
and  the  Ro,;ky  xMountain  Fur  Company  encamped 
m  full  force,  together  with  Bonneville  and  Ferris 
and   other   independent   trappers.     Thence,  in    the 
autumn  of  1833,  the  undiscouraged  Yankee  voyaged 
m  a  bull-boat  down  the  Big  Horn  and  the  Yellow- 
stone, stopping  at  Fort  Cass  and  Fort  Union   to 
trade  skins  and  robes  for  provisions,  and  so  on  to 
'"^t.  Louis  and  home. 

In  spite  of  the  melancholy  failures  of  the  first 
oxpodition.  Wyeth  was  able  to  find  backer,  hr  a 
sorond.  This  time  ho  hoped  to  meet  the  expenses 
"t  Iho  overland  party  by  taking  out  a  stock  of  goods 
f"-  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  (^)mpanv  whose  chief 
Milton  SuhlPttP,  ho  ad  ronvincod  that  supplies 
miKht   bo  had  at  much  better  figures  than   were 


L>        l| 


;l 


'  i! 


;     S 


122  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

offered  by  the  brother  who  had  retired  from  the 
partnership.     A  new  joint  stock  concern,  the  Colum 
bia  Fishing  and  Trading  Company,  was  organized. 
Hall,  Tucker  &  Williams  again  undertook  to  send  a 
vessel  round  the  Horn,  and  again  a  party  of  men 
was  enlisted,  but  this  time  at  St.  Louis,  where  trap- 
pers   and   engages   of   experience   could   be   found. 
Wyeth  had  no  need  of  guide  or  protection  in  his 
second  journey  across  the  Plains,  for  he  was  now 
bourgeois  on  his  own  account,  and  in  his  train  travelled 
two  distinguished  scientists,   Thomas  Nuttall  and 
J.   K.  Townsend.     He  reached  the  rendezvous  on 
Ham's  Fork  in  June,  1834,  only  to  find  that  Milton 
Sublette    had    repudiated    his    contract.     Wyeth's 
business  sagacity  did  not  desert  him  in  this  emer- 
gency.   With  characteristic  energy  he  determined 
to  turn  his  rejected  goods  and  superfluous  men  to 
account  by  erecting  a  trading  post  on  Snake  River, 
hoping  to  trade  with  the  Shoshones,  Nez  Perces,  and 
Flatheads  for  buffaU)  robes.     The  post  was  erected 
at  the  point  where  the  Port  Neuf  River  joins  the 
Snake,  ami  was  named  Fort  Hall  after  the  senior 
l)artiier  in  the  Boston  firm  which  was  to  reap  no 
otltrr  gain  from  the  expedition.     Here  twelve  moii 
were  left  with  a  hundred  guns  and  rifles,  while  tho 
main  party  pushed  on  to  the  Columbia. 

Arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  October,  the  daunt- 
less leader  found  to  iiis  chagrin  that  the  Man  Dnnr 
was  only  just  coining  up  the  river.  The  ship  liad 
been  stru('k  by  lightning  off  Valparaiso  and  obli^iod 
f„  put  iii  for  n-pair-.  Tho  d^lay  of  threo  months 
had  forfeited  the  salmon  season,  and  the  proposed 


SI 

li 


ACQUISITION  OF  ORECJON 


123 


return  cargo  could  not  be  prepared  till  the  second 
sununer.     "We  have  failed  in  everything  for  the 
■  first  year,"  Wyeth  wrote  home.     "After  so  long  an 
abstinence,  I  feel  hungry  for  a  little  success."     But 
there  was  no  use  in  crying  over  spilt  milk.     The  shij) 
was  loaded  with  timber  from  the  magnificent  pine 
forests  of  the  neighborhood  and  despatched  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands  with  instructions  to  bring  back 
cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs.     Meantime,  Wyeth  set  to 
work   with    redoubled   energy    to   develop    the   re- 
sources of  the  region  he  had  claimed  for  his  own. 
He  put  up  a  fishing  station  on  AVappatoo  Island 
with  kilns  for  smoking  salmon  and  a  rude  garrison 
which  he  called   Fort  William.     He  explored   the 
Willamette  and  fixed  on  a  site  for  a  farm,  ~  a  prairie 
three  miles  below  Duporte's,  "about  fifteen  miles 
long  and  seven  wide,  surrounded  with  fine  timber 
and  a  good  mill  stream  on  it,"  — and  two  men  were 
sent  there  with  implements  and  seed  for  the  first  plant- 
ing.    The  bulk  of  the  force  Wyeth  led  on  a  trapping 
expedition  up  Des  Chutes  River,  a  wild  stream  run- 
ning through  deep  chasms  and  over  precipitous  rocks. 
Tlie  results  of  the  winter's  hunt  did  not  compensate 
for  the  loss  in  men  and  equipment,  however,  and  the 
leader  returned  broken  in  health  and  spirits.     His 
oxperience  in  curing  salmon  was  also  discouraging. 
Tlie  Indians  could  not  supply  the  fish  fast  enough 
for  the  smoking  process,  and  his  own  men  did  little 
bettor.     Only  half  a  cargo  was  put  up.  and  that  of 
'"'    >nferior    quality.     Fort    William    made    but    a 

ives  had  died  of 


i'«ai;v  residence.     Most  of  the  nat 

•'•■  Plugue  that  had  swept  the  length  of  the  coast  fr 


om 


'   '*il 


•M  V^i 


H  !■•! 


1    a 


Mr 


!. 

i  :,' 

i. 

i 

«         !    '■ 

'    , 

;i    • 

1 

'  t 

• 

(;••      ''  =  ■„ 

-  ■ 

\h  ^ 

124 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


t  •' 


! 


California  northward  several  years  previous,  and 
the  Americans  suffered  from  various  disorders  due 
to  dampness,  overwork,  and  perhaps  in  some  degree 
to  infection.  One-third  the  men  were  ill  the  greater 
part  of  the  summer,  and  seventeen  died  violent 
deaths. 

In  the  autumn  of  1835  Wyeth  went  to  Fort  Hall 
with  supplies,  and  again  in  the  autumn  of  1836 ;  but 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  built  a  trading  post 
on  the  Bois6  and  their  competition  was  too  sharp 
for  him.  Concluding  at  last  to  abandon  the  field, 
he  sold  Fort  Hall  to  the  Great  Company.  He 
returned  to  the  states  by  way  of  Santa  F^  and  the 
Arkansas  River,  and  reached  Boston  in  November  of 
1836,  hoping  to  secure  capital  for  a  new  venture  on 
the  Columbia ;  but  the  financial  situation  was  not 
promising.  The  few  men  who  had  money  to  spare 
were  unwilling  to  jeopardize  it  on  so  dubious  a  ven- 
ture. Fortunately,  his  former  employer  in  the  ice 
business  was  eager  to  reinstate  him,  and  Wyeth 
was  able  to  pay  all  his  debts  and  accumulate  a 
competence  before  his  death.® 

The  projector  of  the  Columbia  Fishing  and  Trad- 
ing Company  accomplished  little  for  the  furtherance 
of  American  trade  in  Oregon  and  nothing  for  emi- 
gration. His  lukewarmness  in  this  latter  respect,  it 
must  be  conceded,  was  c'ue  to  a  juster  appreciation 
of  the  risks  and  hardships  involved  than  the  enthu- 
siasts of  the  Oregon  Colonization  Society  possessed. 
In  a  letter  written  to  Hall  J.  Kellcy  in  April  of  1832, 
Wyeth  said:  "I  nliall  at  all  tinics  he  diapo'^ed  tn 
further  an  emigration  to  the  Columbia  as  far  as  I 


i,    t 


^^i^Q^ 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  125 

deem,  on  actual  knowledge  of  the  country,  that  it 
will  be  for  the  advantage  of  the  emigrants,  but 
before  I  am  better  acquainted  with  the  facts,  I  will 
not  lend  my  aid  in  inducing  ignorant  persons  to 
render  their  situation  worse  rather  than  better " 
Four  years'  experience  of  the  hazards  of  the  Far 
West  must  have  reenforced  his  opinion  that  it  was 
impracticable  and  inhuman"  to  involve  women 
and  children  in  such  an  enterprise. 

On  both  his  visits  to  Fort  Vancouver,  Wyeth  was 
received  with  perfect  courtesy  and  given  the  free- 
dom of  the  quarters ;   but  he  was  allowed  to  learn 
none  of  the  secrets  of  the  trade  and  was  definitely 
informed  that  his  efforts  to  establish  relations  with 
the  Indians  would  be  effectively  checkmated.     In  his 
Memoir  submitted  to  Congress  in  1839,  Wyeth  recog- 
nized the  courtesy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
agents  while  writhing  under  the  sense  of  obligation  to 
victonous  rivals.     "  In  their  personal  intercourse  with 
Americans  who  come  into  the  country,   they  are 
uniformly  hospitable  and  kind.    The  circumstances 
under  which  we  meet  them  are  mortifying  in  the 
extreme,  making  us  too  often  but  the  recipients  of 
the  bounty  of  others,  instead  of  occupants  to  ad- 
minister it,  as  should  be  the  case.     No  one  who  has 
visited  their  posts,  I  presume,  can  say  anything  to 
d'spraise  his  reception ;   for  myself,  setting  matters 
01  trade  aside,  I  have  received  the  most  kind  and 
considerate  attention  from  them." 
^  Americans  who  came  by  sea  were  no  more  success- 
Hil.    Only  seven  trading  vessels  flying  the  Stars  and 
^tnpos  ventured  across  the  Bar  in  the  years  between 


M:    ..-■    SI 


,1       s  ; 


iH  1 


126 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


!    I     ■ 


( 


-I- 


I     \ 


t 

I.- 

.     V 

: 

' 

\ 

• 

^ 

!   ^:\ 

,   1 

'{•  •  1 

.1 

i 

1  i  ■ 

1814  and  1842 :  the  Oahee  and  Convoy  from  Boston 
in  1829,  the  May  Dacre  and  the  Enropa  in  1834,  the 
Thomas  Perkins  in  1840,  the  Maryland  in  1841,  and 
the  Chemams  in  1842.    Their  efforts  to  open  a  trade 
with  the  natives  were  uniformly  unfortunate;   the 
Indians  were  readily  induced  by  the  offer  of  better 
bargains  and  by  appeals  to  their  loyalty  to  let  the 
"Bostons"  alone.     Kelley  states  that  when  the  Eu- 
ropa  from  Boston  came  into  the  river  to  trade  in  1834, 
Dr.  McLoughlin  immediately  fitted  out  the  Llama 
with  an  attractive  cargo  and  instructions  to  follow  the 
American  vessel  and  undersell  her  goods,  no  matter 
at  what  prices,  until  she  was  driven  from  the  coast. 
This  trade  ostracism  was  not  wholly  due  to  com- 
mercial reasons.     Dr.  McLoughlin  had  cause  to  fear 
the  demoraUzing  influence  of  his  irresponsible  rivals. 
Wyeth  brought  in  distilUng  apparatus  on  his  second 
expedition  to  the  Columbia ;   but  he  had  the  grace 
to   respect   the   protest   of    the    chief    factor    and 
abandon    his    purpose  of    manufacturing  whiskey. 
The  Thomas  Perkins  had  large  quantities  of  liquor 
aboard.     Dr.    McLoughlin    bought    up    the    whole 
stock  and  stored  it  at  the  Fort  to  prevent  its  getting 
into  the  hands  of  the  natives,  "as  this  was  an  article 
which,  after  a  great  deal  of  difficulty,  we  had  been 
able  to  suppress  in  the  trade."  ^    The  influence  of 
the    Americans    was    no   less   demoralizing   to   the 
tribes  of  the  interior.     There  were  from  five  to  six 
hundred  free  trappers  in  the  Snake  River  country, 
and  the  unscrupulous  competition  of  rival  parties 
was  rapidly  destroying  the  Indian's  respect  for  the 
white  man. 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  127 

Meantime  the  apostle  of  the  attractive  gospel, 
Oregon  for  Americans,  had   been  engrossed  in  his 
colonization  enterprise.     Convinced  of  the  necessity 
of  a  preliminary  survey  of  the  possibilities  and  diffi- 
ciilties  involved,  Kelley  had  finally  set  out  with  a 
small  party  early  in   1832.     He  went   by  way  of 
New  Orleans  and  Mexico,^  taking  along  a  stock  of 
trading  goods,  culinary  utensils,  and  farming  imple- 
ments.    These   were  promptly  confiscated   by   the 
Mexican   officials  in   lieu   of   customs  duties,   and 
the  secretary  of  the  Oregon  Colonization   Society 
found  himself  a  penniless  vagabond.     Undiscouraged 
he  begged    his  way  to    IVIonterey,  but    there  new 
troubles  awaited  him.     Figueroa,  then  governor  of 
Upper   California,    had   no   liking   for   Americans. 
This  particular  specimen  excited  his  suspicion  by 
proposing  to   make   a  survey  of   the   Sacramento 
Valley  for  the  Spanish  government.     Thwarted  in 
this  endeavor  to  earn  his  passage  to  Vancouver 
Kelley  succeeded  in  inducing  Ewing  Young,  a  trader 
from  Taos,  to  try  his  fortunes  on  the  Columbia 
River.     Horses  were  to  be  the  stock  in  trade,  and  a 
herd  of  over  a  hundred  was  got  together,  as  well  as 
a  gang  of  men  —  sailors  and  unemployed  trappers  — 
to  assist  in  driving  the  animals  to  their  destination 
i  Iio  journey  was  made  over  the  trail  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  California  brigade,  but  it  proved  too 
<lifficult  for  the  Boston  schoolmaster.     He  fell  ill  of 
over  and  would  hardly  have  got  through  alive  but 
tor  the  kindness  of  Framboise,  one  of  iho  Conipanv'M 
<'mors   on    the    Umpqua.     At  Fort   Vancouver,^  a 
-t:uTi,^onng  disappointment  awaited  him.     Figuoroa 


'i 


I  ,«-'i' 

M 


■      r.  I 


il 


:  I  "'■ 


i  -: 


r! 


■  *^r-  si 


'!  . 


128 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


:  \ 


<  i(  I 


'I 


had   forwarded   to    Dr.    McLoughlin   by    a   north- 
bound vessel  a  letter  of  warning,  apprising  him  that 
Kelley  and  Young  had  stolen  their  horses  from  a 
ranch  on  the  Sacramento.     The  charge  was  false. 
The  actual  thieves  (if  thieves  there  were;  were  some 
irresponsible  adventurers  who  joined  Young's  party 
on  the  Sacramento  and  deserted  before  they  reached 
the  Umpqua ;   but  the  chief  factor  could  do  no  less 
than    post    a   warning,  pending   investigation.     He 
despatched  inquiries  to   Figueroa,   and   that  func- 
tionary was  induced  to  withdraw  his  assertion ;   but 
in  the  three  months'  interval  between  question  and 
answer,  Young  and  Kelley  were  forbidden  the  Fort. 
Kelley,  who   was   still   seriously    ill,    was   assigned 
quarters  in  an  outlying  cabin   and  a    servant    to 
attend    to   his   wants.     Food   and   medicines   were 
regularly  sent  him,  but  he  was  denied  the  pleasant 
intercourse  of  the  factor's  table.    That  Intercourse 
was  especially  interesting  in  the  winter  of  1834-1835 
because  of  the  presence  of  half  a  dozen  American 
gentlemen  who   had   come   over  with  Wyeth:    the 
naturalists  Xuttall  and  Townsend,  and  the  Meth- 
odist missionaries  Jason  and  Daniel  Lee  and  Cyrus 
Shepherd.     It  would  seem  that  these  men,  all  of 
whom   knew   Kelley's   standing   in    Boston,    might 
have  vouched  for  his  character  and  extricated  him 
from   this   humiliating   dilemma;    but    no   one   of 
them   dared   to   visit   the   discredited   man   except 
Shepherd,   "the  gentle  Christian  whom  everybody 
loved."     When  Wyeth  returned  to  Fort  Vancouver 
from    his    excursion    up   the     Des    (^hutes   River, 
he  found    to    his  "great    astonishment,    Mi.  Hall 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  129 

J.  Kelley  at  the  Fort.     He  came  in  company  with 
Mr    loung  from    Monte  El   Rey,  and    it    is   said 
stole  betweer    them  a  bunch  of  horses.     Kelley  is 
not  received  at  the  Fort  as  a  gentlemen  a  house  is 
given  him  and  food  sent  him  from  the  Gov.  table 
but  he  is  not  suffered  to  mess  here."^     Kelley  re 
counts  that  Wyeth  can.     to  his  cabin,  but  his  only 
words  were,  "Well,  Kelley,  how  did  you  get  here^  '' 
The  wretched  visionary,  sick  and  destitute,  clad  in 
a  tattered  Mexican  costume,  obliged  to  accept  alms 
from  the  hated  Britons,  and  shunned  by  the  only 
men  who  could  be  of  use  to  him,  bitterly  resented 
this  treatment  from   the  friend   to  whom   he  had 
given  the  first  information  about  the  Oregon  coun- 
try    But  Wyeth  was  himself  in  desperate  straits 
and  could  offer  no  aid.     Moreover,  his  experience  in 
the  mountains  had  taught  him  that  honorable  men 
might  resort  to  dishonorable  methods  to  tide  them 
over  an  emergency. 

Unlike    Wyeth,    who    expressed    unbounded    ad- 
miration for  the  efficiency  of  the  great  monopoly, 
even  while  his  business  opportunities  were  melting 
away,  Kelley  railed  against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany  as    the   author   of   all    his    misfortunes.     He 
Wievod  that  the  real  ground  of  his  exclusion  from 
Vancouver  was  his  known  intention  of  colonizing 
Oregon   with  American  citizens.'^    In   the   }re>noir 
submitted    to    the    House    (Committee    on    Foreign 
Affairs  in  1839,  the  embittered  man  asserted  that 
he  was  'an  object  of  dread  and  dislike  to  the  era.n. 
mg  monopolist,    .f  the  H.  B.  (  o."  because  he  wis 
resolved  "to  act  independently  as  an  American  on 

VOL.  II  —  K 


•  im 


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'f  . . . ,   •- 

■J    ;  k    ,     i- 


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SI  i  I 

11 


H,i  : 


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HI, 

tU ' 


*  1 
t 


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130 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


American   soil,   seeking   authentic   information   for 
general  diffusion,  and  pursuing  the  avowed  purpose 
of  opening  the  trade  of  the  territory  to  general  com- 
petition, and  the  wealth  of  the  country  to  general 
participation  and  enjoyment."     He  persuaded  him- 
self that  his  papers  were  tampered  with  and  his  food 
poisoned,  and  that  he  was  finally  hurried  out  of  the 
country  as  a  dangerous  character.     Dr.  McLoughlin 
did  give  him  free  passage  to  the  Sandwich  Islands 
on  a  Company's  ship,  and  a  much  needed  contribu- 
tion  of  £  7  from   his   private   purse.    The   latter 
courtesy  Kelley  does  grudgingly  acknowledge,  but 
his  obligations  to  the  Company  were  ignored.     In 
his  Narrative,  Dr.  McLoughlin  recounts  the  Kelley 
episode  and  adds:  "On  his  return  to  the  States,  he 
published  a  narrative  of  his  voyage  in  which,  instead 
of  being  grateful  for  the  kindness  shown  him,  he 
abused  me  and  falsely  stated  I  had  been  so  alarmed 
with  the  dread  that  he  would  destroy  the  H.  B.  Co.'s 
trade  that  I  had  kept  a  constant  watch  over  him." 
President  Jackson  sent  T,i(Mitenant  Slacum  of  the 
Navy  to  investigate  thr  supposed  outrage  (1830), 
but  he  was  soon  convinced  that  Kelley  had  mis- 
represented the  situation. 

Ewing  Young  was  a  man  of  very  different  caliber. 
A  Tennesseean  by  birth,  he  had  engaged  in  the  fur 
trade,  first  in  Santa  F6  and  then  in  Cnlifornia,  until, 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  a  losing  busi- 
ness, he  determined  to  make  a  place  for  himself  in 
Oregon.  While  Kelley  was  proclaiming  his  wrongs. 
Young  possessed  himself  of  an  extensive  tract  <-f 
land  on  Chehalem  Crook  and  there  bred  his  Hpimi  '. 


y^^K.f^ 


i 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  131 

horses.     He    bitterly    resented    the    accusation    of 
horse  stealing,"  a  capital  crime  on  the  frontier,  and 
even  when  he  was  exonerated  by  Figueroa  and  given 
the  same   trade  privileges  at   Fort   Vancouver  as 
other    settlers,    he    cherished    a    stubborn    grudge 
agamst  the  chief    factor.     Champoeg  became  the 
rallymg    ground  for  the  "mountain-men,"  and  the 
center  of  a  zealously  American  party.     Young  un- 
dertook to  set  up  a  distillery  as  a  means  of  restoring 
h^    dep  otcd    finances,    using    the    kettles    loft    by 
Wyeth  for  distilling  vats;    but  this  enterprise    the 
manufacture  of  "the  white  man's  poison,   the  In- 
<lians  certain  death,"  was  earnestly  protested  by 
Dr.   .  IcLoughlm  and  the  Loes.     Young  consented 
to  abandon  it  on  condition  that  his  expenditure  be 
made  good  to  him,  and  the  Doctor  furnished  him 
^lio  means  to  ere^-t  a  sawmill.     Once  established  in 
business.  Young's  energy  and  uprightness  of  char- 
acter soon  rendered  him  a  respected  and  influential 
citizen. 

Kelley's  campaign  for  an  American  Oregon  was 
exaggerated  and  impracticnl  because  he  took  no 
|U-c'ount  of  obstacles  and  glorified  his  prcnised  la.ul 
l-yond  credence.  The  RnmhUr  ridiciled  his  prop- 
a^andH  as  the  ravings  <.f  "a  crack-brained  scho,- 
master  of  Boston."  "  Kelloy's  promises  wen-  uuM 
nagn,f.cent.     Acordin.  to  him  this  transnu>ntano 

^  a'-aan  was  a  land  of  milk  an,l  hon.v,  full  of  navi- 
«;'Me    n      ,,    ^„„,    practicable    i,,    .very    <lirecfion. 

,;    ♦'.•;•'-••   I'M-   a-ended    info   the   very   heaven ; 
-|I  y.eld..,l  more  fo  the  acre,  sponfaneouslv 
<•  '-v..Td  firju.,  „i   iwgium  ami  Britain. 


•  I 


I': 


T:E;mim^:^im^ 


t  I 


i 


I' 


f 

i 
i 

i 

!      : 
i       i 

•il 

I' 

bi; 

AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


No  country  afforded  such  facilities  for  ship-building ; 
how  easy  it  would  be  to  transport  the  grain  of 
Oregon,  in  vessels  of  Oregon  timber,  to  India,  China, 
and  Japan !    What  facilities  the  country  offered  to 
the  whale  fishery  and  to  railroad  enterprise !    The 
Columbia  and  its  tributaries  were  literally  choked 
with  salmon."  "    The  unlucky  dreamer  marked  out 
the  sites  of  future  settlements,  —  a  manufacturing 
town  at  the  Falls  of  Willamette,  a  commercial  town 
at  the  junction  of  the  Willamette  with  the  Columbia, 
a  seaport  on  Gray's  Bay.    He  even  projected  (inhia 
Geographical  Sketch  of  Oregon,    1820)    a    transcon- 
tinental railroad.    It  was  to  begin  on  the  Missouri 
River  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas,  "cross  the  back- 
bone of  the  Continent  through  a  depression  near 
the  43rd  parallel,"  follow  the  Snake  River  to  Walla 
Walla,  and  thence  "make  a  mountainous  transit" 
to  the  southern  extremity  of  Puget  Sound,  "there 
lo  connect  with  the  interminable  tracks  of  the  ships 
of  the  great  deep."     Kelley  sincerely  believed  that 
if  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  not  thwarted  his 
efforts,  this  road  would  have  been  graded  through- 
out and  Oregon  fully  populated  by  1840.     Sharing 
the   fate   of  all   idealists,   he   was  a  generation   in 
advance  of  his  day.     All  that  he  hoped  for  Oregon 
was  destined  to  come  to  pass,  and  largely  through 
his  mad  propaganda.     His  pamphlets  and  his  news- 
paper generated  a  romantic  enthusijusm  for  the  vast 
realm  beyond  the  Rockies  so  rapidly  slipping  from 
American  control.     His  suggestion  that  every  colonist 
should    receive   ;i   grant   of   two   hundred   acres  «»f 
arable  land  appealed   with  irref*if*tihle  force  to  tlic 


wwm7m;my'^:w< 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  133 

homeless  and  unemployed  of  the  eastern  ciiies  and 
furnished  the  foundation  for  the  Donation  Act. 
Kelley's  project  for  the  occupation  of  Oregon 
failed,  but  a  new  impulse  derived  from  an  entirely 
different  source  proved  more  potent  than  the  un- 
measured enconiums  of  the  ardent  New  Englander. 

Section  II 
The  -Missionaries 

All  explorers,  traders,  and  travellers,  from  Lewis  and 
Clark  to  T.  J.  Farnham,  are  agreed  as  to  the  high 
moral  qualities  of    the   Flathead   Indians.     Fran- 
ch^re  thought  they  got  their  religion  as  well  as  their 
horses  from  the  Spanish  settle.r.ents.     "iMcTavish 
assured  us  that  he  had  seen  among  the  Spokanes,  an 
old  woman  who  told  him  that  she  had  seen  men 
ploughing  the  earth;  she  told  him  that  she  had  also 
seen  churches,  which  she  had  made  him  understand 
by  imitating  the  sound  of  a  bell,  and  the  action  of 
pulling  a  bellrope ;    and  further  to  confirm  her  ac- 
count, made  the  sign  of  the  cross.     That  gentleman 
concluded  that  she  had  been  made  prisoner  and  sold 
to  the  Spaniards  on  the  Del  Xorte;   but  I  think  it 
more  probable  it  was  nearer,  in  North  California,  at 
the  Mission  of  San  Carlos  or  .San  Franciscor  «»    Wy. 
eth  records  the  religious  obhorvances  of  the  Flatheads 
"1  the  journal  of  his  first  expedition.     " Every  morn- 
ing some  important  Indian  atldreases  either  heaven  or 
Ins  countrymen  or  both,  I  believe  exhorting  the  one 
to  good  conduct  to  each  other  and  to  the  strangers 
among  tlu-m,  and  the  other  to  hv^Um  its  !)lessings. 


^■■|i! 


''I 


■I , ' 


H  J   . 

Hi'im  i. 


-^iii^^.  w!;?wm!it:msmm 


134 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


III 


I  »i:' 


|!! 


He  finishes  with  *  I  am  done.'    The  whole  set  up  an 
exclamation  in  concord  during  the  whole  time.     Sun- 
day   there   is   more   parade   of   prayer   as   above. 
Nothing  is  done  Sunday  in  the  way  of  trade  with 
these  Indians,  nor  in  playing  games,  and  they  seldom 
fish  or  kill  game  or  raise  camp.     While  prayers  are 
being  said  on  week  days,  every  one  ceases  whatever 
vocation  he  is  about ;  if  on  horse-back  he  dismounts 
and  holds  his  horse  on  the  spot  until  all  is  done. 
Theft  is  a  thing  almost  unknown  among  them  and  is 
pun'shed  by  flogging,  as  I  am  told,  but  have  never 
known  an  instance  of  theft  among  them.     The  least 
thing,  even  to  a  bead  or  pin,  is  brought  you  if  found, 
and  things  that  we  throw  away.    This  is  sometimes 
troublesome.     I  have  never  seen  an  Indian  get  in 
anger  with  each  other  or  strangers.     I  think  you 
would  find  among  twenty  whites  as  many  scoumlrols 
as  among  one  thousand  of  these  Indians.     They  have 
a  mild,  playful,  laughing  disposition,  and  their  (juali- 
ties  are  strongly  portrayed  in  their  cc/untenanccs. 
They  are  polite  and  unobtrusive,  and  however  poor 
never  beg  except  as  pay  for  service,  and  in  this  way 
they  are  moderate  and  faithful  but  not  industrious."  ' 
In  the  summer  of  1831 ,  before  Wyeth  and  Kelloy  set 
out  for  the  Columbia,  four  mountain  Indians,  two 
Flatheads  and  two  Nez  IVrces,  came  to  St.  Louis  with 
Sublette's  train  and,  finding  General  Clark,  ask.>il  him 
to  send  to  their  people  men  who  could  teach  them 
how  to  worship  God.     They  were  courteously  eni.  r- 
tained  by  the  man  who  owed  sonmch  to  these  trilns 
and  were  told  that  missi(.naries  wouUl  ome  to  the 
land  that  lay  at  \\n-  dividiriK  of  \\iv  water:-.''       -'''■' 


14 


f     f 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  135 

of  this  unusual  type  of  Indian  fell  into  the  hands  of 
a  sojourner  in  St.  Louis,  who  forthwith  wrote  an 
account  of  their  mission   for   the   eastern   press.'* 
Dr  Wilbur  Fisk,  president  of  Wesleyan  University, 
Middletown,  Connecticut,  raised  "the  cry  from  Mace- 
donia"  with  convincing  eloquence,  and  appealed  to 
the  Missionary  Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church  to  send 
thegospel  to  the  Flatheads.    An  appropriation  of 
$3000  was  made  by  the  Board,  meetings  were  held  in 
New  York,  New  Haven,  Middletown,  Philadelphia, 
and  Baltimore,  and  additional  funds  sufficient  for  the 
enterprise  were  soon  raised.    Jason  Lee  of  Canada 
and    his    nephew,    Daniel    Lee,    were    appointed 
preachers,  while  Cyrus  Shepherd  of  Lynn,  Massachu- 
setts,  went  as  teacher.     At  Independence,  Missouri, 
where  the  missionaries  joined  Wyeth's  second  ex- 
pedition, P.  L.  Edwards  was  enlisted  as  lay  helper 
and  C.  M.  Walker  as  hired  assistant.    From  Port 
Neuf  River,  where  Wyeth  stopped  to  build  his  trad- 
ing post,  the  missionaries  went  on  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  factor.  McKay,  "toiling  through 
•mmense  tracts  of  mountain  sage,  or.  more  properly 
wormwood,  an  ugly  shrub  from  two  to  six   feet 
higfu    "    When  McKay  stopped  to  trap  and  trade 
lor  beaver,  they  joined  the  party  of  Captain  Stuart 
an  English  traveller,  for  the  journey  across  the  Blue 
Mountains  to  Walla  Walla.    The  voyage  down  the 
t  olumbia  was  made  with  the  Hudscm's  Bay  Com- 
pany s  brigade.     Arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver,  they 
were  accorded  a  cordial  welcome  by  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
who  was  glad  of  any  civilizing  influence  that  ...tered 
'UH  barbarous  empire,  and  advised  that  they  settle 


I  •  St 


i'  »^ 


wm 


u.  } 


WW  -J : 


':    ! 


-'. 


».i 


I     . 


136  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

on  the  WUlamette,  where  they  would  have  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Fort.    He  furnished  them  horses,  a 
guide— Gervais— and  provisions  for  a  tour  of  explo- 
ration to  French  Prairie,  where  lay  the  farms  of  the 
ex-trappers.»»    The  site  selected  for  the  mission  sta- 
tion lay  farther  up  the  Willamette,  about  sixty  miles 
from  its  mouth  and  on  the    east    bank    (Yamhill 
Creek).    "Here  was  a   broad,  rich  bottom,  many 
miles  in   length,  well  watered,  and  supplied  with 
timber,  oak,  fir,  cottonwood,  white  maple,  and  white 
ash,  scattered  along  the  borders  of  its  grassy  plains, 
where  hundreds  of  acres  were  ready  for  the  plough." '» 
The  two  lay  helpers  abandoned  the  enterprise, 
Walker  transferring  his  services  to  Wyeth's  post, 
Fort  William,  while  Edwards  opened  a  school  at 
Champoeg,  twelve  miles  below.    Shepherd  spent  the 
winter  at  Vancouver  in  charge  of  the  school  that  had 
been  opered  by  Dr.  McLoughUn  "some  time  before," 
and  the  Lees  were  left  to  develop  the  Mission  with 
such  aid  as  they  could  secure  from  the  settlers.    A 
log  house  was  built  with  implements  procured  from 
the  May  Dacre,  and  a  barn  raised.    Dr.  McLoughUn 
loaned  fifteen  head  of  cattle  and  gave  £26  on  his  own 
account  to  this  "public  institution."    In  the  spring 
of  1835  thirty  acres  was  planted  to  corn,  potatoes, 
wheat,  oats,  and  vegetables.    The  yield  exceeded  the 
most  sanguine  hopes,  and  a  subsistence  for  a  con- 
siderable community  was  thereafter  assured.    When 
Slacum  visited  the  Mission  in  1836,  there  were  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  fenced  and  under  cultivation, 
and  the  cattle  from  Vancouver  were  doing  well.    The 
appeal  of  the  Flat  heads  was  apparently  forgotten. 


-*^  ■---. 


i£^' 


I 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON 


137 


OREcioi*  Settlements  in  1844 


The  Lees  justified  this  diversion  from  the  original 
object  of  their  mission  by  the  statement  that  "a 
larger  field  of  usefulness  was  contemplated  as  the  ob- 
tribe"'^*^^  "^'''''"  ^^^  ^^®  benefiting  of  a  single 

^^  So  far  as  they  had  in  contemplation  service  to  the 

mountain  men,"  the  change  of  plan  was  wise;  but 

ho  Indians  of  the  lower  Columbia  were  far  less  hope- 

;ul  material  for  civilization  than  the  tribes  of  the 

n^^'\  ^Z'"  ''*'"'^*''^  *^"  ^"^'^"  population 
USOO)  at  eight  tribes  of  perhaps  one  thousand  per- 
sons each,  but  they  were  even  then  fast  degenerating 
U'Hlor  intercourse  with  the  trading  vessels.  Kelley 
^  a  o«  that  whrn  he  was  on  the  river  nothing  re- 
mained but  the  remnants  of  these  tribes,  and  that  the 


*   , 


i.,i 


'  I 


ft 


138 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


i'  tl' 


sum  total  could  not  have  been  more  than  five  hun- 
dred souls.  The  Multnomahs  were  all  dead,  and 
their  villages  in  ruins."  The  Clatsops  had  lost  their 
tribal  autonomy  and  had  taken  refuge  with  the 
Chenooks  on  the  north  bank.  "All  the  remaining 
Indians  below  Vancouver  live  in  the  most  brutal, 
sottish  and  degraded  manner ;  addicted  to  the  gross- 
est intemperance,  and  associating  with  the  whites  in 
such  a  manner  that  there  can  scarcely  be  found  among 
them  a  full-blooded  Indian  child." 

Such  were  the  people  whom  the  Methodist  mis- 
sionaries undertook  to  convert  to  the  ways  of  Chris- 
tianity !  They  wisely  began  with  the  children,  or- 
ganizing a  home  school  for  their  benefit ;  but  under 
the  unaccustomed  strain  of  confinement  and  regular 
tasks  the  poor  things  sickened  and  died  or  returned 
to  the  degraded  savagery  of  their  own  villages,  "free 
as  a  bird  escaped  from  its  cage.""  "There  were 
more  Indian  children  in  the  mission  grave-yard  at 
the  Walamet,  .  .  .  than  there  were  of  such  as  were 
alive  in  the  manual  labour  school."  **  Consumption 
and  scrofula  and  intermittent  fever  were  the  usual 
ailments,  a  dismal  preoccupation  that  left  Uttio 
time  for  training,  intellectual  or  industrial.  Indeed, 
Di'iiol  Lee  naively  records  that  the  amount  of  labor 
to  be  performed  about  the  place  greatly  retarded  the 
pi  ogress  of  his  pupils,  while  the  adults  were  obdurate 
to  the  influences  brought  to  bear.  An  old  chief,  who 
came  to  the  Mission  to  be  healed  of  a  wound,  de- 
clared openly  that  "the  Bostons  should  never  make 
hini  good."'  \  serious  effort  was  made  to  reach  the 
Indians  through  the  offer  of  material  advantage. 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  139 

They  were  urged  to  locate  on  a  piece  of  ground  as- 
signed to  their  I  <e  and  to  till  the  soil,  and  the  Lees 
offered  to  assist  them  in  the  building  of  comfortable 
houses.     "A  man  was  hired  to  help  them,  and  some 
efforts  were  made  in  order  to  induce  them  to  work 
and  help  themselves.    There  was,  however,  so  nmch 
apathy  among  them,  that,  after  having  used  various 
means   for  a  year  quite  in  vain,  they  abandoned 
the  attempt."  "    The  demoralizing  influence  of  the 
sailors  on  the  river  seemed  to  be  greater  than  all  the 
efforts  of  the  missionaries.     The  missions  undertaken 
by  Daniel  Lee  and  Thomas  Perkins  at  the  Dalles  and 
by  J,  H.  Frost  among  the  Chenooks  were  no  more 
promising.    These  tribes  were  more  demoralized,  if 
possible,  than  the  Calapoosas  on   the  Willamette. 
The  bandits  at  the  Dalles  did  show  much  enthusiasm 
at  first,  but  Daniel  Lee  was  forced  to  admit  in  the 
end,  that   while  prospective   temporal   gain  might 
"make  them  ardent  professional  friends  and  serious 
hearers  in  the  absence  of  all  higher  motives,"  yet 
the  conversion  was  only  skin-deep. 

With  the  whites,  the  missionaries  had  better  for- 
tune. They  set  on  foot  a  flourishing  temperance 
society  among  the  "mountain  men,"  and  the  half- 
breed  children  came  eagerly  to  school.  The  mission 
station  was  on  the  trail  that  led  to  California,  and 
many  weary  travellers  "worn  out  by  their  long  and 
i'ungry  tramp"  found  rest  and  refreshment  at  the 
hospitable  station .  Lee's  Ten  Years  records  the  pass- 
ing of  Ewing  Young  with  his  "twelve  sailors  and 
»>unters."  and  of  Mr.  Kclley.  "a  New  England  man 
who   entertained   some   very   extravagant    notions 


I  ■ 


I  >|ij 


'•'A  A 


'■•|! 


^'■Vw 


\\ 


.'\  i  \  t 


*!  -i. 


h!  ■■  t 


,*i|     1' 


!i 


■ 


H  > 


)  i;   !; 


j      I    ■,  • 


140 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


in  regard   to   Oregon  which  he  published  on  his 
return."  " 

In  May  and  September  of  1837  two  supply  ships 
arrived,  bringing  twenty  more  missionaries,  among 
them  several  devout  young  women,  and  the  bachelor 
missionaries  were  speedily  married.  This  entailed 
the  building  of  more  ho  ises  and  provision  for  the 
future.  In  the  same  year  a  joint  stock  company 
was  organized  for  the  purchase  of  cattle,  the  settle- 
ment having  grown  too  large  to  be  supplied  from  the 
Fort.  Slacum,  whose  ship,  Loriot,  was  in  the  road- 
stead, offered  fiee  passage  to  Bodega  for  the  party  of 
ten  commissioned  to  purchase  cattle  in  California, 
advanced  $500  on  behalf  of  the  Mission,  and  gave  to 
Ewing  Young,  who  was  to  direct  the  enterprise,  a 
new  suit  of  clothes  and  a  loan  of  $150.  The  other 
settlers  got  together  $1000,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  con- 
tributed $1250  on  account  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. The  expedition  returned  overland  the  year 
following,  reenforced  by  several  Americans  from 
California  and  driving  six  hundred  cattle  and  forty 
horses.  The  horses  were  sold  at  auction  and  the 
cattle  distributed  among  the  stockholders  at  the  rate 
of  $7.67  apiece.  The  Mission  thus  secured  eighty 
fine  animals.  The  settlers  were  allowed  to  redeem 
the  domesticated  cattle  loaned  them  from  Vancouver 
with  these  wild  steers,  —  an  offer  that  was  gladly 
accepted. 

Dr.  Elijah  White,  a  physician  who  came  out  wiiii 
the  reenf orcement  of  1837,  indicates,  in  his  Teji  Years 
in  Oregnn,  considerable  dissatisfaction  with  .Jason 
Lee's  conduct  of  affairs.    The  following  year  he  was 


(J 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  141 

induced  to  return  to  the  states,  "ostensibly  "to  collect 
funds  and  secure  additional  workers,  but  also  in  the 
hope  that  "commingling  once  more  with  polished 
society  would  result  advantageously  to  himself  and 
the  mission."  "    The  letter  addressed  by  Jason  Lee 
to  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  (Middle- 
town,  Conn,  Jan.  17,  1839)  gives  evidence  that  his 
views  as  to  the  function  of  the  Willamette  Mission 
had  undergone  a  change.     "The  exclusive  object  of 
the  Mission  is  the  benefit  of  the  Indian  tribes  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mts.     But  to  accomplish  this  object  it  is 
found  necessary  to  cultivate  the  soil,  erect  dwelling 
houses  and  schools,  build  mills  and,  in  fact,  introduce 
all  the  necessaries  and  helps  of  a  civiUzed  colony  " 
He  stated  his  conviction  that  the  missionaries  would 
remam  as  the  nucleus  of  an  American  settlement 
after  their  services  to  the  Indians  were  no  longer 
required,  provided  the  United  States  government 
would  guarantee  title  to  the  lands  taken  up  and  im- 
provements  thereon,  together  with  protection  and 
the  laws  of  a  civilized  community.     "The  country 
will  be  settled,  and  that  speedily,  from  some  quarter  • 
and  It  depends  very  much  upon  the  speedy  action  of 
Congress  what  that  population  will  be.  .  .  .    It  may 
bo  thought  that  Oregon  is  of  little  importance;  but 
rely  upon  it,  there  is  the  ^erm  of  a  great  state."' 
-eo  returned  to  the  Willamef  .  in  May,  1840,  bringing 
•Ky  additional  missionaries  (thirty-eight  adults  and 
thirteen  children)  and  .?4(),000  worth  of  supplies    a 
roenforcement  that  still  further  dihited  the  zeal  for  the 

visited  the  WiUamette  Valley  in  1841,  charged  the 


y . 


iy  y 


■■r; 


ifljiiiii 


MP1 


it:.' 


H 


1? 


iii 


142 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Methodists  with  lukewarmness.  "The  American 
missionaries  are  making  more  rapid  progress  in  the 
extension  of  their  estabUshments  and  in  the  improve- 
ments of  their  farms,  than  in  the  ostensible  objects 
of  their  residence  in  this  country.  As  I  cannot 
learn  that  they  are  successful,  or  taking  much  pains 
to  be  M,  in  the  moral  and  religious  instruction 
of  the  natives,  who  are  perfectly  bewildered  by  the 
variety  of  doctrines  inculcated  in  this  quarter."  " 
The  Methodist  Mission  was  closed  in  1844,  and  the 
property  divided  among  the  members. 

The  "cry  from  Macedonia"  met  with  response 
from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  less  generous  than 
that  of  the  Methodist  Board  in  the  way  of  money, 
but  far  more  costly  in  human  life.  Two  young  mis- 
sionaries, Samuel  Parker  and  Marcus  WTiitman,  wre 
despatched  to  Oregon  in  1835.  Packer  made  his  way 
through  to  the  Columbia,  but  decided  ibat  the  fiekl 
was  iiot  adapted  to  his  talents  and  came  back  around 
the  Horn.  Whitman  thought  better  of  the  prospect 
and  returned  to  the  United  States  for  another  helper 
and  for  his  wife,  Priscilla  Prentis  Whitman.  The 
letters  of  this  heroic  woman  furnish  our  most  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  struggles,  the  successes,  the 
failure  of  the  Waiilatpu  Mission.  In  the  spring  of 
1836,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spald- 
ing and  a  Mr.  Gray,  crossed  the  Plains  in  the  train  of 
the  .Vmcrican  Fur  Company  to  the  annual  rendez- 
vous. They  were  provided  with  the  usual  number 
of  horses  and  beef  cattle,  but  the  quite  unusual  ac- 
cessory »)f  a  four-wheeled  wagon  was  added  foi  the 
comfort  of  the  ladies.     Ashley  had  taken  wagons 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  143 

through  the  South  Pass  ten  years  earlier,  but  such  a 
vehicle  had  never  attempted  the  lava  beds  along  the 
Snake  River  nor  threaded  the  steep  defiles  of  the 
Blue  r»Iountains. 

On  the  trail  up  Bear  River  to  Fort  Hall,  the  mis- 
sionaries travelled  in  company  with  McLeod  an.l 
McKav     'h  Actors  of  the  Hudson's  Bav  Company 


post 
thei 

SPli 

■••ijii.ili 
tWi    isicii. 

Here  t  k 


II' 


the?' 

K;    -.11' 


-••>-i 


,11; 


i.il 


Hi 


tlemen   were  indefatigable  in 
the  path  of  the  gentle  emis- 
BufTalo    failed    after    Bear 
itelope  and  oik  were  abun- 
-     ■   Ji';   Falls   there   were  plenty  of 
'        'Vr-r  was  crossed  at  a  point  where 
''i<>  '   c  stream  into  fordable  channels. 
»"  capsized,  and  much  of  the  luggage 
had  to  be  uiuiidtMied  ;  but  when  the  axletree  broke, 
the  ind()mital)lo  Whitman  converted  the  vehicle  into 
a  two-wheeled  cart.     At  Fort  Bois^  the  wagon  was 
finally  abandoned.-^^     In  recrossing  the  Snake,  below 
the  Bois^,  the  ladies  were  intrusted  to  a  rush  canoe 
towed   by   Indians   on   horseback.     "It    is   simply 
bunches  ot  .ushes  tied  together,  and  attached  fo  a 
frair.e  made  of  a  few  sticks  of  small  willows."  ^^     Whit- 
man had  intended  to  setth  at  Grande  Ronde,  the 
rendezvous  of  the  mountaii    ribes,  but  w  is  dissuaded 
by  the  almost  insurmount...,ie  difficulty  of  getting 
supplies  into  a  region  so  far  from  navigable  rivers. 
The  crossing  of  the  Blue  .Mountains  was  the  most 
awkward  part  of  the  journey,  and  the  western  slope 
was  dangerous  even  for  pack  horses.     "It  was  like 
wu'<li'''S  stairs   in   its  descent,  and  in  some  places 
almost  perpendicular."  » 


n  1! 


*l  M 


■    i 

A 

;  J'    :      Ml 

--  ».  i    .;i| 

':■:  ■  r 

■','>    »'' 


,l;iM 


t  . 


'-.  fi 


('  <■ 


i0M 


f  i  ■  ■ 


I  •< 


1 


1       "^ 


•1  ..r. 


144 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Arrived  at  Fort  Walla  Walla,  the  weary  travellers 
were  cordially  welcomed  by  Mr.  Pambrun  and 
feasted  on  the  good  things  of  his  little  farm.  They 
had  now  readied  the  country  of  the  Nez  Perces,  but 
it  was  deemed  necessary  to  go  on  to  Vancouver  for  sup- 
plies, and  here  the  hospitable  Dr.  McLoughlin  gave 
the  new-comers  a  hearty  welcome.  He  was  not  very 
encouraging,  however,  as  to  their  prospects  among 
the  Fhitheads,  and  warned  them  that  their  lives  were 
in  danger  unless  they  settled  under  the  protection 
of  one  of  the  Company's  forts.  This  advice  was 
adopteti,  and  the  men  of  the  party  returned  to  the 
Walla  Walla  to  build  a  house  at  Waiilatpu,  some 
thirty  milos  above  the  Fort,  while  the  ladies  accepted 
the  hospitality  of  Fort  Vancouver  for  the  winter. 
Boais  and  guides  and  supplies  were  placed  at  the 
service  of  the  new  missionaries.  "Dr  McLoughlin 
promises  to  loan  u:<  enough  to  make  a  beginning,  and 
all  the  return  he  asks  is  that  we  supply  other  settlers 
in  the  same  way.  He  appears  desirous  to  afford  us 
every  facility  in  his  power  for  living.  No  person 
could  have  received  a  more  ht-drty  welcome,  or  be 
treated  with  greater  kindness  than  we  have  been 
since  our  arrival."  '" 

The  Presbyterian  missions  were  placed  at  strategic 
points  among  the  mountain  tribes;  the  Whitmans 
settled  at  Waiilatpu  in  the  land  of  the  Cayuses,  tin* 
Spaldings  among  tlio  NVz  Perces  at  Lapway  on  the 
Clearwiiter,  while  Walker  and  Kels,  who  came  out  in 
]H:\\),  went  into  the  heart  of  the  Flathead  country 
above  Fort  Colville.  At  all  of  these  stations,  every 
effort  was  made  to  teach  the  natives  industrv  as  well 


iii 


ACQUISITION  OP  OREGON 


145 

Zf^'Z    77"'^^^''  ""^  ^"^^'^  ^^'•^  introduced, 

At  first  the  Indians  seemed  honest  and  tractable  and 
eager  to  improve  their  condition.     TJiey  even  so  far 

1 1  the  fields  and  care  for  the  hogs,  hons,  and  cattle 
obtained  from  Walla  Walla.     But  a  quite  unlooked! 
for  source  of  dissension  arose.     The  natives  grew 
jeaous  of  the  waxing  prosperity  of  the  new-comers 
and  began  to  demand  payment,  not  only  for  the  land 
but  for  the  wood  and  water  as  well.     "It  is  difficult 
or  them  to  fee,  but  that  we  are  rich  and  getting  rth 
by  the  houses  we  dwell  in  and  (he  cl.>thes  we  wear 
and  hang  out  to  dry  after  washin     from  week  to 
week,  and  the  grain  we  consume  in  cur  families."  - 
This  state  of  mind  impressed  the  hard-worked  mis- 
sumanes  as  both  unre.usonable  and  ungrateful.     Dr. 
Wu  man  explained  that  the  mission  property  was 
no  his  but  belonged  to  the  .morican  Board,  that  h 
had  come  a   the  invitation  of  the  Indians  and  would 
^v .thdraw  when  he  was  no  longer  wel.-ome.     Another 

~^strustwas  that  the  medu-inesadmini 
»»>  Dr.  Whitman  did  not  always  cure.     When  (he 
sH-k  r>eiNons  had  rrourse  to  the  medicine  man.  thev 
v^  re  told  that^ehe  white,  wore  giving  poison    o  rid 
•ra.v   who  had  been  e.luca(ed  at  Dartmouth  bu(  ha.l 

■^Ila  Halla  at  th.s  unlucky  juncture  and  (old  (he 
P.ul(h    I„,,.a     f,,,^„,^ 
K<>to<l  (l,Hf   th,  r^.^yus,^  ,h,,„,,,   i,^,i, ,± 

Vol..  II    --. 


1 1 


J: 


1 


,  I" 


:-t 


s  I 


I* 


146 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


rights.     Nothing    but   the   near    neighborhood    of 
Fort  Walla  Walla  prevented  an  open  outbreak. 

Meantime  the  Catholic  church  had  not  been  ob- 
livious to  the  needs  of  this  remote  land.  The  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  had  sent  two  priests  to  the  Co- 
lumbia district  (1838)  for  the  benefit  of  the  French 
engages  at  the  forts,  Walla  Walla  and  Vancouver,  and 
the  settlements  of  Cowlitz  and  French  Prairie,  and, 
according  to  Sir  deorge  Simpson,  "they  had  been 
very  zealous  in  the  discharge  of  their  missionary 
duties."  They  could  boast  no  less  a  convert  than 
Dr.  Mclxmghlip  hinwelf.  Some  time  during  the 
winter  of  1S41-1842,  after  reading  Milner's  polemic. 
The  End  of  CnntroiH.rsy,  he  was  baptized  into  the 
faith  dear  to  his  mother  and  his  wife  and  to  the 
French  Canadians  with  whom  he  had  so  long  l)eon 
associated.  It  was  an  impolitic  step  so  far  as  his 
Oregon  interests  were  concerned,  but  it  was  taken 
with  the  chief  factor's  characteristic  firnmess.  An 
antagonism  Initvccn  the  Fort  and  the  Methodist 
Mission  is  traceable  from  this  time. 

The  Flathead  deputation  of  IS'il  had  been  noted 
by  the  Catholic  clergy.  Iinleed.  the  twt»  Indians  who 
died  at  St.  I^mis  wore  buried  in  the  cathedral. 
Wlfcn  neither  the  Methodist  nor  the  Presbyterian 
missionaries  venture<l  to  this  devoted  pwple,  a  second 
deputation  was  sent  to  St.  Louis  (ISii.'))  and  a  tliird 
(1H:?7).  The  Jesuit  order  t(n»k  up  the  neglected 
ta.sk,  and  in  the  spring  of  1H4()  Father  de  Smet  jour- 
neyed to  the  mountains  with  the  American  Fur  <'oin- 
pany's  brigade.  At  Piern^'s  Hoh\  he  met  the  llai- 
heads  anil  preached  tlie  gospel  to  the  asseinbhMJ  tril«f, 


t 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  147 

baptizing  several  hundred     Immensely  encouraRed 
the  zealous  apostle  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  the  autumn 
for  reenforcements,  and  in  the  following  spring  re- 
crossed  the  Plains  with  two  priests  and  four  lay 
brethren  and  an  adequate  outfit  to  found  Ihf.  mission 
of  St.  Mary's  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley.     Th<'  ot.tor- 
prise  was  planned  for  the  civilization  as  well  as  the 
conversion  of  the   Indians.     They  were  taught    h> 
plough  and  plant,  and  wheat,  oats,  and  potatoes  wore 
sown  and  harvesfod.  to  the  amazement  and  delight 
of  these  aspirants  for  the  white  mans  way  of  life. 
The  following  year,  Father  de  Smot  went  df,wn  to 
Fort  Vancouver  to  confer  with  his  fellow-clorgy  and 
with  the  chief  factor,  and  it  was  determined  that  he 
should  canvass  the  United  States  and  Europe  for  rcn- 
forcements.     He  returned  by  ship  in  184.3  with  a  co.,- 
siderable  number  of  "black  frocks."    Thus  strength- 
ened,  the  apostle   to   the   Flatheads   extended   his 
endeavor  to  other  mountain  tribes  and  founded  the 
mission  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  (Vur  d'Alrncs 
and  St.   Ignatius'  for  the  Pend  d'Oreillos.     Inrl,,.- 
.rial  development  keF)t  pace  with  the  religious       \t 
St.  Mary's,  Father  Kavalli  built  a  grist-mill,  having 
brought  the  millstones  frrm.  Furope  for  this  purpus,. 
^o^hls  sawmill,  this  same  ingenious  priest  provi.led 
saw  and  crank  beaten  out  of  wagon  tire>.     At  St 
Ignatius,  t<H,.  a  flour-inill  was  set  up  and  a  vvhip-...nv 
run  bv  water-power.     The  first  ehurch  was  b.ult  ,.f 
^att■.■(l  timbers  whieh  were  put  together  without  nails. 
Hio  first   vnissionaries,    IVofesfant   an.l   ('ath.»li,. 
^^'^r'-  -levotcvi  an<l  .self-saerifieing  ;    but  the.  rival  es^ 

••'I'lishiiienfw     Mrnofi.:....    t-.tr^..      .    . 

'  i-?^' -H  «5»uj^  uiiurciu  forii).-  «ii  worsjiip, 


i 


•  s 


:  ii^'^ 


M.  ■ 


»  i 


iili*' 


(   i 


^m  ...t 


148 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


I    I 


had  an  unfortunate  eflfect  on  the  Indian  mind.  The 
confusion  of  authority  was  discouraging.  Moreover, 
the  natives  had  anticipated  that  the  white  man's  re- 
hgion  would  bring  them  prosperity,  —  successful 
hunts  and  immunity  from  disea-se.  When  they  found 
tluit  the  old  ills  were  not  abated  and  that  new  evils 
hitherto  unknown  were  upon  them  —  the  white 
man's  diseases,  the  white  man's  preemption  of  land 
and  game  —  a  sense  of  grievance  and  hostility  took 
the  place  of  their  early  hospitality.  Apparently  the 
g!?H  between  the  aborigines  and  civilized  man  was 
t<K)  wide  to  be  crossed  in  one  generation.  It  seems 
the  irony  of  fate  that  the  saintly  Whitmans  were 
selected  as  the  victims  of  their  futile  wrath.  On  an 
autumn  evening  of  1S47,  the  Cayuses  suddenly  at- 
tacked the  Mission  at  Waiilatpu,  killing  in  their  blind 
rage  not  only  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  but  the  chil- 
dren resident  in  school  and  some  American  emigrants. 
The  immediate  result  was  a  punitive  expedition 
under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States,  and  the  re- 
lations of  friendship  and  equality  between  white  man 
and  red  were  at  an  end. 

Section  III 


I! 

5! 


Dr.  McLoughlin  as  a  Colonizer 

The  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  C<mipany  toward^ 
the  Indisuis  had  always  been  conservative.  The 
aborigines  were  '  >ganlc>d  its  hardly  less  important 
than  tlie  fur-bearing  animals  jis  factors  in  their  trade 
atul  the  coiitinuanre  of  the  sev«Tal  trilu's  in  their  an- 

,.«     I...  .-f  iit'f    •rr'i  >i>>><lu    u.-au    o    iTinttnr    ftf    KpriOUS    I'lill- 


fi:--t!i: 


I    r 


t         ■» 


ACJQUISITION  OF  OREGON  149 

cern.     For   this  reason,    liquor   was   debarred,  and 
mtermamage  between  nat.ve  women  and  the  Hud- 
son s  Bay  Companys  men  was  encouraged.     The 
chief  factor  himself  had  manned  a  half-breed    the 
widow  of  Alexander  McKay.     The  advent  o7fo;e^: 
raders  who  brought  m  whiskey  and  vicious  practices 
together  with  the  coming  of  s..tler.  not  n^2 
junstoion  of  the  Great  Compar.v.  was  naturally 
dreaded;    but,  far   from   discouragmg  colonization" 
the  Company  regarded  the  agricultural  development 
of  such  territory  as  had  ceased  to  produce  furs  in  prof- 
1  able  proportions  as  a  natural  sequence  ;  ^-witness 
he  Red  River  settlement.     By  the  terms  of  its  char- 
ter the  Company  was  not  permitted  to  dis^-hargo  anv 
of  the  Hud^^n's  Bay  Company  servants  in  the  wil- 
derness     They  must  be  returned  to  the  headquarters 
i"  Montreal.     This  was  a  humane  provision.  <,ui,. 
analogou-s  to  the  regulation  that  a  seaman  mav  not 
bo  abandoned  in  a  foreign  port ;    but  the  retiring 
omploy..s  of  the  Columbia  district,  seeing  that  this 
v^as  a  goo.lly  land  and  well  suited  to  farming,  peti- 
'ned  the  chief  factor  to  be  allowed  to  settle  there.  '3 
l)r  M<.Loughhn  devised  a  schen.e  by  which  he  miuht 

-"form  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  while  providing 'or 

--isofthemennn.iatthesametin.efurth^-ing 

tunate  advantage  of  the  Con.pany.     A^t 

^^f'  •  f'ad  completed  their  contracted  term  of  sorvto 

a";    ac<.umulate,l   C5()  out  of  their  wages,  were  p.,- 

-te.   to  take  their  families  to  the  Willamette  Va  lev 
se  tie  there;  but  their  nauH.^ 

-'"  the  books.     They  were  still   servants  of  the 
'  '""I'any  and  liable  to  voo^U  :..  , ^r  .„    ... 


'i  ( 


V 


I'll' 

? 


f  I   ;1 

i    3 


i  I 


H 


■:'••  u 


150 


AMERICAN  SEITLERS 


fi' 


.  >• 


wheat,  etc.,  was  advanced  from  the  stores  at  the  Fort, 
on  the  understanding  that  the  debt  would  be  cleared 
with  the  first  surplus  product.     Two  oxen  and  two 
cows  were  furnished  each  settler  on  condition  that  all 
the  increase  be  returned  to  Vancouver,  but  on  no  con- 
sideration were  any  cattle  sold  from  the  Company's 
herd.     Implements  and  other  supplies  were  sold  to 
engage  at  fifty  per  cent  advance  on  London  prices.^^ 
Wyeth  wrote  in  1839:  "For  several  years  past  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  have  been  in  the  practice  of 
permitting  their  servants  to  retire  from  their  employ, 
and  settle  on  the  Willamette;    there  are  perhaps 
some  twenty  or  thirty  persons  of  this  description, 
who  arc  cultivating  to  a  small  extent  on  the  bottom- 
of  that  river  above  the  Falls  (French  Prairie).     In 
these  cases  the  obligations  beween  them  and  the  Com- 
pany are  not  dissolved,  but  only  suspended  at  the 
will  of  the  Company,  who  can  at  plejisure  recall  thorn 
at  their  stations;    and  this  is  often  done,  and  tlir 
power  to  do  so  is  used  to  govern  them ;  their  p:i\ 
from  the  Company  ceases  during  their  absence  from 
their  stations,  but  is  restored  on  their  return."     It 
was  essential  to  the  peace  of  the  district  that  tlicM- 
discharged  employees  should  be  held  in  effective  con 
trol.     .\    definite    colonization    scheme    was    tlctn- 
mined  on  during  Dr.  McLoughlin's  visit  to  London 
(1840),  and  s<>ttlors  were  scul  out  by  way  t)f  theSii- 
katchewan  in  IS41  muler  the  auspices  of  the  Pun<  f 
Sound  .Vgricultunil  Association. 

Besides  the  HiKlson's  Bay  Company's  servant-^, 
there  were  a  number  of  free  trappers,  wlm.  fiiuiiiii: 
increa-iii^i  difliciilty  in  makiii^i  a  livi'liho.ul  from  t!if 


l! 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  151 

beaver  hunt,  were  desirous  of  settling  down  as  farmers 
in  the  Multnomah  country.     The  remnant  of  the 
Astonans- Joseph  Gervais,   William  Cannon,  and 
Alexander   Carson,    Lucier,    La    Framboise,    Louis 
Labont^,  Jack  and  Philip  Degr6- were  settled  here 
and  one  man,  Franyois  Rivet,  who  claimed  to  have 
been  one  of  U-wis  and  Clark's  parly.     Other  trappers 
"mountam  mm  '  fr.,m  Snake  River  and  the  Seed- 
skeedee,  having  heard  of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of 
the  Willamette  Valley,  determined  to  recoup  their 
faihng  fortunes  by  moving  thither.''     Farnham  met 
on  Snake  River  two  of  these  discouraged  trappers 
(Jordon  and  Meek,  who  were  setting  out  with  their 
sciuaws,  papoo.scs,  and  all  their  "possibles"  for  the 
descent  of  the  Columbia.     They  and  many  of  their 
follow    trapi)ers    were  proposing   to  "settle  in  one 
neighbourhood,  and  cultivate  the  «.arth.  or  hunt   as 
""•Imation  or  necessity  might  suggest,  an,l  thus  pass 
t  «o  cvonmg  of  their  .lays  among  the  wild  pleasures  of 
<l'at  delightful  wilderness.-  ^^    The  cabin  of  „ne  of 
tlx'se  s(,uatters  is  described   by  Farnham:   "It  was 
a  hewn  log  structure,  al,„ut  twenty  feet  sfjuare,  with 
a  mud  chimney,  hearth   and  fireplace.      The  furni- 
ture onsisted  of  one  chair,  a  m,mb<.r  of  w<K)den 
'"'"••lies,  a  rude  be.lstead  coveri'd  with  Hag  mats  • 
a.H  several  sheet-iron  kettles,  earthen  plates,  knives,' 
■"••ks  tm  pmt  cups,  an  Indian  wife,  and  a  brace  of 
'Town  boys."  3« 

To  all  these  would-be   farmers- French.  Scotch 
a.Hl  American -Dr   McLoughlin   offered  the  same 
"•■•"'s   as    to    his    ol,l    servants.     Without    his    aid 
■-ucci'ss  Would  !>.'{Vi« 


HH=n    Uii 


inr^i^uHv,  iiii    Vancouver 


')  m 


f     I 


•':  I 


'f 


i  I  i| 


•     Mj       1   '1 


:n 


it  r 
i  i  ; 


f 


'.;.7r*": 


i' : 


1"  i  j  .• 
i;  1 


'  'i 


ill    I 


if'  !         ' 


:i 


■■; 


•w '  : 


•i'' 


n- 


I 


8 


't^ 


152 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


was  the  only  source  of  supply  for  seed,  implements, 
cattle,  and  provisions,  and  the  only  market  for  their 
surplus  products.  At  first  sight  the  chief  factor's 
plan  of  action  would  seem  to  go  directly  athwart 
the  interest  of  the  great  fur  monopoly ;  but  to  a 
man  actually  resident  in  the  country,  it  was  evident 
that  the  fur-bearing  animals  were  being  exhausted 
and  that  new  commodities  must  be  brought  to  the 
Fort  or  its  trade  would  languish.  Astor's  scheme 
of  a  trade  with  the  Russian  settlements  was  success- 
fully developed  by  McLoughlin,  and  for  this  trade 
food-stuffs  were  the  first  essential.  The  grain 
grown  on  the  Company's  farm  could  not  supply 
the  demand,  so  it  was  evident  that  an  agricultural 
colony  producing  wheat  and  potatoes  would  be  a 
valuable  accessory.  To  the  settlers,  the  near  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Fort  was  an  unmixed  gain,  furnishinK 
adecjuate  protection  from  the  Indians  and  from 
foreign  interference,  as  well  as  a  sure  market  for 
their  surplus  products.  For  wheat  a  fixed  price  of 
three  shillings  a  bushel,  always  paid  in  supplies  at 
thirty  per  cent  less  than  the  trade  level,  meant  tho 
e(iuivalent  of  $1.25  in  the  States.  The  certificates 
of  sale  given  to  the  fanners  and  redeemable  at  the 
Company's  stores  served  all  tho  purposes  of  money. 
To  enable  the  penniless  to  earn  a  living,  the  chief 
factor  "comnienced  building  extensively,  at,  the  tails 
of  the  Walhunette,  and  therehv  irave  immediate  em- 
ployment, at  the  highest  wag«>s,  to  all  those  win) 
wished  to  labor."  '■ 

That  Dr.  MeLonghlin's  policy  was  not  displeii-irm 
♦  <;  Jiii;  ciiijoriors.  Is.  ('vitio'it  fr{)!n  tlic  reeen.llv  Muli|i--lie(i 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  153 

reportof  SirGeorge  Simpson,  who  visited  theCoIumbia 
district  in  1841.     He  notes  that  there  were  at  that 
date  one  hundred   and   twenty-six   men,   heads  of 
famdies,  settled  on  the  Willamette  —  sixty-five  \mori 
cans  and  sixty-one  Canadians  -  making  a  total  poj)u. 
lation  of  five  hundred  whites.     "AH  these  people 
have  taken  possession  of  tracts  of  country  at  pleas- 
ure, which  they  expect  to  retain  under  a  good  title 
arismg  from  such  possession,  whenever  the  boundary 
question  may  be  determined  ;  and  are  generally  very 
comfortably  settled,  bringing  portions  of  their  farms 
gradually  under  cultivation,  and  having  large  stocks 
of  cattle  brought  from  California.*  *  *    We  have  this 
season  purchased  from  these  settlers  about  4000  bu" 
wheat  at  3 /per  bushel,  which  will   be  disposed  of 
to  advantage  by  resale,  and  instead  of  manifesting 
any  opposition  to  these  people  by  withholding  sup- 
plies from  them,  or  putting  them  to  inconvenience 
HI  other  respects,  it  is  considered  good  policy  to  deal 
with  them  on  such  fair  and  reasonable  terms,  that 
no  stranger  would  benefit  materiallv  by  opposing 
us  m  our  transactions  with  them."'"    Sir  George 
visited  not  only  "the  pastoral  settlement  at  Mult- 
"'^"^H  Is."  (Governor's  Island  at  Willamette  Falls) 
;-'<  the  "Pugot  Sound  Company's  tillage  farm"  at 
"'<;  »-a'l  of  Cowlitz   River.     More  was  a  tract   of 
'•'^ Mo,.n  hun<lred  acres,  of  which  one  thousan<l  was 

'''''y'ult.vat.on.produoingnVht  thousand  l>ushcls<,f 
^^'";|^  and  four  thousan.l  bushels  <.f  oats  and  harh>v 

-..  es  a  h.rgo  quantity  of  potatoes.  Here  and  nn 
\^'  f-rl.le  plan.s  about  Hoo.l's  Can.-.l  flu.  l.pd  .vv 
'^•nned  t.y  tenants,- English  an<l  French  half-breed's 


'if 


I    r  i  M      ill 

mi 


:(    . 
■Sli 


ifj; 


li 


j;!l,i:,i 


I  I      11 


m^: 


154 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


>  '!. 


retired   servants  of   the   Hudson's   Bay   Company 
from  Red  River.    The  men  of  English  blood  were 
furnished  with  shc<>p  and  cattle,  and  cultivated  their 
crops  on  halves.    The  French  were  intrusted  with 
seed  and  agricultural  imi)lements,  but  it  was  thought 
they  were  "not  likely  to  do  well  with  cattle."    The 
governor  in  chief  opined  that  this  region  would  be 
"very  favorable  for  settlement  and  would  find  an 
outlet  for  a  foreign  market  by  the  straits  of  de 
Fuca."     "There  is  no  doubt  that  that  country  will 
in  due  time,  become  important  as  regards  settle- 
ment  and    commerce,    while   the   country   in    the 
vicinity  of  the  coast,  bordering  on  the  Columbia 
and  Willamette  Rivers,  so  much  spoken  of  in  the 
United  States  as  the  El  Dorado  of  the  shores  of  the 
northern  Pacific,  must  from  the  dangers  of  the  bar 
and  the  impediments  of  navigation  together  with 
its  unhealthiness  sink  in  the  public  estimation,"     A 
contrary  opinion  was  held  by  David  Thompson,  the 
old  Northwester.    Thompson  was  now  a  broken  and 
forgotten  man,  but  he  addressed  to  the  English  gov- 
ernment a  vigorous  protest  against  the  surrender  of 
the  Columbia  River  country,  the  most  proinisiii« 
portion  of   the   British   inheritance  on   the  Pacific 
Coast. 


Section   IV 

American  Emigrants 

The  inter.  >t  in  Oregon  awakened  by  Kellcy's 
campaign  and  Wyoth's  enterprises  was  stimulated 
and  disseminated  by  reports  of  tiie  beauty  and  fcr- 


'    1 

i   -1 


f  t 


I 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  155 

tllity  of  the  region  sent  back  to  "the  States"  by  the 
missionaries.    Tlie  I^es  wrote  letters  to  the  Chns- 
han  Advocate,  which  was  pubHshed  simultaneously 
in  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  and  St.  Louis  ;  WTiitnian's 
articles  appeared  in    the  Congregationalist    of   Bo,s. 
ton,  the  Missionary  Herald  of  New  York  the  Chris 
tian  Mirror  of  Portland.     Even  more  stirring  wcto 
the  o-ddresses  made  by  the  returned  missionaries  or 
their  representatives  in  the  Eastern  cities.     We  have 
an  account  of  one  such  lecture  delivered  by  Ja^on 
U^  in  Peoria  in  the  autumn  of  1838  which  impelled 
a  young  lawyer  from  Vermont,  T.  J.  Farnham,  to 
oad  a  party  of  nineteen  to  the  land  of  jjromise  the 
following   year.     Farnham's   enterprise   added    but 
011,'ht   settlers   to   the   Willamette   colonv.    but   his 
report  of  what  he  saw  and  heard  in  the  course  of 
his  journey  to  the  far-famed  Valley  was  widely  read 
and  had  great  effect  in  stimulating  emigration  to  the 
iacfic    Coast    and    in    determining    the    American 
people  to  get  possession  not  only  of  Oregon,  but  of 
t  ahforma.     During  the  decade  1839  to  1849   there 
was  an  annual  migration   from  Westport   up   the 
J  latte  River  and  across  South  Pass  to  Fort   Hull 
tl>once  down  the  Snake  and  over  the  Blue  Moun- 
tauis  to  Waiilatpu. 

With  dangers  thickening  about  their  infant  inis- 
^•'•n  the  Whitmans  welco.ned  the  appearance  of 
;;  '  e  settlers.  In  May  of  1840  Mrs.  Whitman 
rote,  a  tide  (,f  immigration  appears  to  be  moving 
^  "^  way  rapidly.  .  .  .  We  are  emphaticallv  situ- 
•';<"<l  <m  the  highway  between  the  Stat(>s  and  the 


'iinii'iu   liiver,   and 


are  a  resting  phico  f„r  tl 


le 


ii^  '^ 


li'i 


d?"  I 


1   s 


't  ili 


>l  i    ;    !l    ':.. 


«  ! 


:i  ■  ■- 


I -I  - 


I 


!v> 


i 


MICROCOPY   RESOLUTION   TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No    2) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


1^ 

■  16 

■  40 


2.5 
Z2 

11 2.0 


1.8 


1.6 


A     /IPPLIED  IN/MGE     Inc 


't)b5     tost     Ma^n     Strff^t 

I  nfi)  4h;   ■  own     phon» 


h 


156 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


weary  travellers,  consequently  a  greater  burden 
rests  upon  us  than  upon  any  of  our  associates  —  to 
be  always  ready."  Considerations  of  humanity  as 
well  as  of  safety  determined  these  devoted  servants 
of  God  to  give  such  food  and  shelter  as  they  pos- 
sessed to  all  who  passed  that  way.  In  1841  two 
parties  of  Missourians,  forty-two  people  all  told, 
went  through  to  the  Willamette  Valley.  "Those 
emigrants  were  entirely  destitute  of  every  kind  of 
food  when  they  arrived  here,  and  we  were  under 
necessity  of  giving  them  provisions  to  help  them  on. 
Our  little  place  is  a  resting  spot  for  many  a  weary, 
way-worn  traveller,  and  will  be  as  long  as  we  live 
here.  If  we  can  do  good  that  way,  perhaps  it  is  as 
important  as  some  other  things  we  are  doing." ^* 
In  a  letter  written  this  same  year,  Whitman  signed 
himself,  "Your  obedient  fellow  laborer  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  Indians,  white  settlers  and  passers-by 
in  Oregon." 

In  October  of  1842  Dr.  Whitman  made  a  hurrieil 
journey  back  to  the  States  on  mission  business. 
Because  of  the  lateness  of  the  season,  he  took  the 
circuitous  route  by  way  of  Taos,  Santa  F6,  and 
Bent's  Fort,  and  arrived  on  the  seaboard  early  in 
March,  1843,  after  a  hazardous  journey.  In  April 
he  was  back  on  the  Missouri  frontier  piloting  :i 
party  of  emigrants  to  Oregon.  His  caravan  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  wagons  was  the  first  to  cross 
the  Snake  River  Desert  and  the  Blue  Mountains  to 
the  Wa'.la  Walla.  From  the  Shawnee  Mission  ho 
wrote:  "It  is  now  decided  in  my  mind  that  Oregon 
will  be  occupied  by  American  citizens.     Those  who 


lit 


^mr*-m;p.  »ii»r9MarHKjijp^«;r»-,  •'mtfLW^-i^^^^s^  ^WB^iVf^  ^ 


:a  *??  i^:'?wjfliiaaBfc:*«si^ 


*.  h 


ISDKIKNKKXCK    HllCK. 

A  lai.dniark  (ui  tlic  (  )ivk()ii  'I'mil. 


«    lil.—  IN.,    ,,|      I, IK     I'lM  IK. 
.\tiJlKll  ,,|    I),,  ,   Ci,,  L 


i      ^ 

I 

t' 

r  .. 


1  , 

i 

sr^2ia.:Kjf 


I!)    ' 


■  i' 


H  '■ 


;ii 


r 


ii 


I 


I;    I 


r 

1 
! 

) 
1 

J 
i  1 

X 

^ 

^^M^^M~EM^^MS^i^KM. 


-:w^%^}m!^T^m' 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON 


157 


go  [now]  only  open  the  way  for  more  another  year."  *" 
Nearly  one  thousand  men,  women  and  children 
followed  the  Oregon  Trail  under  his  guidance,  with 


S  136      "  Jw"'    S^ 


Emi'jrant  Koadb,  1859, 


fifteen  hundred  cattle.  The  bulk  of  the  emigrants 
came  from  the  Western  states  —  Kentucky  Tennessee, 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Illinois — and  were  farmers, 
lured  by  th(>  prospect  of  free  land  and  by  the  in- 
satiable tlesire  to  see  something  of  the  world  and  to 
better  thems<>lvos.  J.  C.  Fremont,  Senator  Benton's 
son-in-law,  who  undertook  a  survey  of  the  route  this 
year,  found  it  already  thronged  with  emigrants. 
"The  edge  of  the  wood,  for  several  mih-s  along  the 
(Rear]  river,  was  dotted  with  the  white  covers  of  the 
emigrant  wagons,  collected  in  groups  at  different 
canipH,  where  the  smokes  were   rising   lazily   from 


I  ii 


i ; 


Ml 


"U  ( 


l  i 


;l'il  I' 


»i  ■  i: 


158 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


the  fires,  around  which  the  women  were  occupied 
in  preparing  the  evening  meal,  and  the  children  play- 
ing in  the  grass ;  and  herds  of  cattle  grazing  about 
in  the  bottom,  had  an  air  of  quiet  security,  and 
civilized  comfort,  that  made  a  rare  sight  for  the 
traveller  in  such  a  remote  wilderness."  " 

While  in  Washington  in  the  spring  of  1843,  Whit- 
man had  some  conference  with  the  secretary  of 
war,  and  in  consequence  submitted  a  statement 
concerning  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  route 
and  the  draft  of  a  bill  proposing  that  the  govern- 
ment provide  military  protection  and  a  series  of 
agricultural  stations  at  strategic  points  along  the 
Trail.  The  river  crossings  were  suggested  as  the 
most  desirable  posts,  because  here  the  Indians  were 
prone  to  fall  upon  the  unguarded  cattle,  and  here, 
too,  soil  and  water  supply  were  apt  to  make  feasible 
the  cultivation  of  wheat  and  other  food  needed  by 
the  people.  Whitman  thought  such  stations  would 
be  self-supporting,  for  the  sale  of  supplies  to  the 
travellers  would  suffice  for  all  money  expense. 
Cattle  and  horses  would  be  raised  to  make  good  the 
losses  suffered  by  the  trains,  and  blacksmiths  and 
carpenters  should  be  at  hand  to  repair  damages  to 
the  wagons.  This  admirable  proposition  was  not 
submitted  to  Congress  because  the  unsettled  stato 
of  the  boundary  question  rendered  Oregon  a  delicate 
subject;  but  the  service  which  Whitman  suggested 
should  be  undertaken  by  Uncle  Sam  was  soon  ap- 
propriated by  private  citizens.  Fort  Hall  and  Fort 
Bois6  and  Fort  Laramie — the  American  Fur  Coin- 
pany's  post  on  the  South  Platte  —  were  already  driv- 


I 

3 

I 

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i 

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I 


J 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  159 

ing  a  thriving  trade  in  emigrants'  supplies,  and 
another,  Fort  Bridger,  was  built  this  same  year  by 
a  quondam  fur  trader,  James  Bridger. 

Even  more  helpful  to  the  on-coming  Americans 
was  the  chief  factor  at  Fort  Vancouver.    As  the 
parties    of    way-worn    emigrants    came    down    the 
Columbia,  ragged  and  destitute,  they  were  received 
at  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  trading  post  as  at 
a  medieval  hospice.    The  thievish  Indians  at  the 
Dalles  and  at  the  Cascades  were  warned  not  to 
molest  the  white  men,  the  sick  were  taken  into  the 
hospital  and  tended  by  the  post  physician,  food 
and  Ghelter  were  furnished  the  women  and  children 
free  of  charge  until  they  could  be  removed  to  the 
settlement,  seed  wheat  was  provided  for  the  first 
sowing,    and    cattle,    oxen,    cows,    and   hogs   were 
loaned  on  the  same  terms  as  to  the  Company's 
men.    This  assistance  was  offered  by  Dr.  McLough- 
lin  on  his  own  responsibility  and  at  his  personal 
cost,  because  it  v/as  impossible  for  a  man  of  his 
training  and  in  his  position  to  see  human  beings 
suffer  from  hunger  and  cold.     His  philanthropy  was 
poorly  requited.     Burnet,  himself  a  pioneor  and  a 
Missourian,  states,  "Many  of  our  immigrants  were 
unworthy  of  the  favors  thoy  received,  and  only  re- 
turned abuse  for  generosity." «    An  immigrant  of 
1.S44,   Joseph    Watt,    makes   a   similar   confession: 
"When  we  started  to  Oregon,  we  were  all  preju- 
diced against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Companv,  and  Dr. 
MoLoughlin,  being  Chief  Factor  of  the   Company 
for  Oregon,  came  in  for  a  double  share  of  that  fcel= 
>'ig.     I  think  a  great  deal  of  this  was  caused  by  the 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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reports  of  missionaries  and  adverse  traders,  imbuing 
us  with  a  feeling  that  it  was  our  mission  to  bring 
this  country  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  But  when  we  found  him  anxious  to  assist 
us,  nervous  at  our  situation  on  being  so  late,  and 
doing  so  much  without  charge,  —  letting  us  have 
of  his  store,  and  waiting  without  interest,  until  we 
could  make  a  farm  and  pay  him  from  the  surplus 
products  of  such  farm,  the  prejudice  heretofore 
existing  began  to  be  rapidly  allayed.  We  did  not 
know  that  every  dollar's  worth  of  provisions,  etc., 
he  gave  us,  all  advice  and  assistance  in  every  shape, 
was  against  the  positive  orders  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company.  ...  In  this  connection  I  am  sorry  to 
say  that  thousands  of  dollars  [S60,000]  virtually 
loaned  by  him  to  settlers  at  different  times  in  those 
early  days,  was  never  paid,  as  an  examination  of 
his  books  and  papers  will  amply  testify."** 

Dr.  McLoughlin  probably  never  read  de  la  Roche- 
foucauld's bitter  maxim.  If  you  wish  to  make  a  man 
your  enemy,  do  him  a  kindness  he  can  never  repay ; 
but  he  had  abundant  reason  to  realize  its  truth. 
The  details  of  the  chief  factor's  relations  with  the 
Company  during  these  critical  years  will  not  be 
known  until  a  fuller  study  of  the  records  can  be 
made.  It  is  probable  that  some  one  reported  his  im- 
politic generosity  to  the  London  Office.  Certain  it 
is  that  he  was  summoned  to  London  in  1845  and  soon 
after  resigned  his  post.  His  position  under  the 
treaty  of  Joint  Occupation  was  a  difficult  one.  The 
joundary  was  not  defined,  but  the  suggestions  given 
by   Governor   Simpson   pointed   to   the   Columbia 


.*--v*at^r'y»^»«ff's'2  .«*!i.'*r7s»*»«\iW5 


s 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  161 

River  as  the  probable  line  of  division.    The  Wil- 
lamette Valley  might  surely  be  regarded  as  open  to 
American  enterprise.    Traders  could  be  driven  out 
by  competitive  methods;  but  in  the  matter  of  colo- 
nization the  United  States  clearly  had  the  advan- 
tage, and  the  Americans  by  this  time  far  outnumbered 
any  force  the  chief  factor  could  bring  to  bear     They 
were  hot-headed  frontiersmen,  moreover,  who  knew 
how  to  handle  their  rifles,  and  the  first  attempt  to 
dislodge    them    would    certainly    precipitate    war. 
McLoughhn's  NarraUve,  written  to  justify  his  action 
in  the  minds  of  the  London  directors,  adduces  the  fact 
that  the  immigrants  "came  from  that  part  of  the 
United   States  most   hostile  in   feehng   to   British 
interests,"  «  and  he  cites  Irving's  Astoria  as  highly 
provocative  of  the  belief  that  the  United  States  had 
been  unfairly  treated. 


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Section  V 
Congressional  Intervention 

A  resolution  that  inquiry  be  made  as  to  the  condition 
of  the  American  settlements  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  and 
as  to  the  expediency  of  occupying  the  Columbia  River 
was  introduced  in  the  Congressional  session  of  1820- 

1821 -only  twoyearsafterthetreatyof  Joint  Occupa- 
tion had  been  concluded,-by  Dr.  Floyd,  senatorfrom 
Virginia.  Thomas  Benton  was  not  yet  a  member  of 
the  Senate,  but  he  was  in  Washington  urging  Mis- 
fouri  s  right  to  statehood,  and  he  used  his  influence 
in  behalf  of  the  lost  territory.  He  relates  in  the 
Tmrty  Years'  View  -^  that  he  and  Floyd  were  stop- 

VOL.    II  —  M 


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Hi, : 


102 


AMERICAN   SETTLERS 


ping  at  the  same  hotel  with  Ramsay  Crooks  and 
Russell  Farnham,  and  that  the  extension  of  the  fur 
trade  in  this  direction  was  a  matter  of  frequent  dis- 
cussion. Floyd's  bill  passed  the  second  reading  and 
was  then  dropped  by  tacit  consent.  It  was  sup- 
ported by  an  impressive  array  of  information  and 
statistics  supplied  by  Hall  J.  Kelley,  and  the  argu- 
ments advanced,  in  addition  to  the  recovery  of  the 
territory  and  the  advantage  to  the  fur  trade,  were 
the  desirability  of  having  a  supply  station  for 
whaling  vessels  on  this  coast  and  the  promotion  of 
commerce  with  Asia.  This  last  point  appealed  to 
Benton's  fervid  fancy  and  he  ventured  to  prophesy, 
"The  valley  of  the  Columbia  might  become  the 
granary  of  China  and  Japan,  and  an  outlet  to  their 
imprisoned  and  exuberant  population."  ^®  Undis- 
couraged  by  the  initial  failure,  Benton  himself  intro- 
duced a  bill  (1825)  proposing  that  the  defence  of  the 
Columbia  be  undertaken  in  order  that  Americans 
might  have  equal  chances  with  the  agents  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company."^  He  opposed  the  renewal 
of  the  treaty  of  Joint  Occupation  (1828)  "with  all 
the  zeal  and  ability  of  which  I  was  master,"  and  he 
found  six  western  senators  to  vote  with  him.  The 
renewal  for  an  indefinite  period  of  an  arrangement 
that  gave  the  great  British  monopoly  a  free  hand 
in  Oregon  aroused  his  indignant  scorn,  and  the 
failure  of  the  Ashburton  Treaty  (1842)  to  settle  the 
boundary  question,  he  denounced  as  little  short  of 
treason.  The  attempt  to  colonize  Puget  Sound 
with  emigrants  from  Canada  and  Great  Britain  he 
proclaimed  a  defiance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  163 

Meantime    the    Oregon    controversy    was    being 
settled  by  the  emigrants.     They  were  pouring  into 
the  country,  —one  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  1842 
and  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  in  1843  —and 
they  took  up  land  in  the  Willamette  Valley  and 
built  cabins,  quite  regardless  of  treaty  obligations 
or  United  States  law.     In  May,  1843,  they  met  in 
convention    at    Chamj.oeg    (Young's    ranch)    and 
orgamzed  a  provisional  government.^    Dr  McLough 
Im  was  powerless  to  interfere,  even  had  he  desired  to 
do  so,  and  when  in  1845  word  came  that  the  British 
government  would  not  undertake  to  protect  Fort 
Vancouver,  the  chief  factor  and  all  the  British  resi- 
dents took  oath  to  support  the  newly  constituted 
authorities,  reserving,  as  did  the  Americans,  allegiance 
aue  to  the  home  government."'    In  this  same  year, 
L.  F.  Linn,  junior  senator  from  Missouri,  brought 
forward  a  bill  providing  for  the  erection  of  five 
blockhouses  along  the  Oregon  Trail  for  the  protec- 
tion of  emigrants  and  granting  farms  in  the  disputed 
terntory  to  bona  fide  settlers.^"     The  bill  failed  to 
pass,  but  the  mere  proposal  to  allow  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  to  evf^     hoa.^    ^  a  family  with  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  to 
sixty  acres  to  each  rhil 
the  end  of  five  years'  ( 
stimulus    to    the    wesi 
hundred  people  followe.. 
thousand  in  1845.     By  \ 
six  thousand  Americans  ir 
of  the  next  jrpar  doubled  t 
the  fate  of  the  country. 


A'ife  and  one  hundred  and 

under  ei-hteen  years,  at 

■'Mon      s«-rved  as  a  new 

"nement.     Eighteen 

til  in  1844  and  three 

Eiu  of  1845,  there  were 

'   -^ff'.n.     The  emigration 

mb'T  and  determined 


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■mmm. 


164 


AMF1ICAN  SETTLERS 


;!■•! 


1 

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The  inauguration  of  President  Polk,  a  thorough- 
going expansionist,  in  1846,  settled  the  policy  of  the 
government.  The  Democratic  platform  had  fixed 
upon  54°  40',  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Russian 
dominions  (deteruiined  by  treaty  in  1824),  as  the 
northern  limit  of  the  American  possessions ;  but  the 
soberer  statesmen,  including  Benton,  regarded  this 
claim  as  untenable.  Great  Britain  was  ready  to 
compromise  at  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  and  this 
moderate  policy  prevailed  in  the  treaty  of  1846. 
The  Donation  Act  of  1850  finally  realized  the 
liberal  land  policy  proposed  by  Hall,  Whitman, 
and  Linn.  To  every  citizen  of  the  United  States 
who  had  settled  in  Oregon  before  the  passage  of  the 
bi'l,  including  half-breeds,  was  allotted  land  to  the 
f.mount  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres ;  to  his 
wife,  if  he  was  married  or  about  to  be  married,  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  more.  To  all  Americans 
who  should  settle  in  the  territory  before  1853,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  for  the  man  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty  more  for  the  wife.  To  avail  themselves 
of  this  legislation.  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  others  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  officials  took  out  citizens' 
papers.  The  attempt  to  open  this  newly  acquired 
territory  to  slave  labor  failed. 

The  American  settlers  had  entered  upon  a  goodly 
heritage  and  they  proceeded  to  make  the  most  of  it. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  now  the  inter- 
loper, and  its  property  rights  in  the  territory  were 
given  slight  regard.  The  admirable  mill  site  at 
Willprnctte  Fallp  which  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  de- 
veloped in  behalf  of  the  Company,  blasting  a  mill- 


ACQUISITION  OF  OREGON  165 

race  and  collecting  squared  timber  and  machinery 
for  a  saw-mill,  was  claimed  by  the  Methodist  xAIis- 
sion.     Oregon  City  was  the  most  proinising  (,  ^vn 
site  on  the  Willamette  and  here  a  flourishing  settle- 
ment had  sprung  up.     Palmer  described  it  in  1845 
as  havmg  one  hundred   houses  and   six   hundrd 
mhabitants.     "There    are    two    grist    mills;     one 
owned  by  M'Laughhn,  having  three  sets  of  buhr 
runners,  and  will  compare  well  with  most  of  the 
mills  m  the  United  States ;   the  other  is  a  smaller 
mill,  owned  by  Governor  Abernethy  ana  K    Beers 
At  each  of  these  grist-mills  there  are  also  saw-miUs' 
which  cut   a  great  deal   of  plank  for   the   use   of 
emigrants.     There  are  four  stores,  two  taverns,  one 
hatter,  one  tannery,  three  tailor  shops,  two  cabinet- 
makers,  two  silversmiths,  one  cooper,  two  black- 
smiths, one  physician,  three  lawyers,  one  printing 
oftce,  ...  one  lath  machine,  and  a  good  brick  yard 
in  active  operation.    There  are  also  quite  a  number 
of  carpenters,  masons  etc.  in  constant  employment 
at  good  wages,  in  and  about  this  village."  ^»    On  his 
own  behalf.  Dr.  McLoughlin  claimed  a  tract  of  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres  on  the  river  bank  at  this 
pomt,  where  he  had  put  a  number  of  houses  and 
projected  a  town.     These  prior  rights  could  not  be 
gainsaid  except  by  power  of  eminent  domain ;  there- 
ore  representations  were  made  to  Congress    that 
brought  about  the  incorporation  of  Section  Eleven 
into  the    Donation  Act,   reserving  these   lands  as 
hnancial  foundation  for  a  state  university.     Under 
this  show  of  legality,  Dr.  McLoughlin's  tract  was 
sold  to  the  men  who  had  secured  the  legislation  ^^ 


4  ll 


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166 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


The  broken-hearted  old  man  protested  without  avail. 
"I  founded  this  settlement  and  prevented  a  war 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and 
for  doing  this  peaceably  and  quietly,  I  was  treated 
by  the  British  in  such  a  manner  that  from  self- 
respect  I  resigned  my  situation  in  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  service,  by  which  I  sacrificed  $12000  per 
annum,  and  the  'Oregon  Land  Bill'  shows  the  treat- 
ment I  received  from  the  Americans."  ^ 

The  boundary  treaty  had  reserved  the  ight  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  navigate  the  Colum- 
bia and  to  continue  its  trading  operations  until  the 
expiration  of  its  charter,  although  these  privileges 
were  hardly  worth  prosecuting  now  that  the  beaver 
were  being  supplanted  by  cultivation  and  American 
vessels  sailed  up  the  roadstead  bringing  goods  from 
the  United  States  and  carrying  produce  to  California 
and  the  Sandwich  Islands.  When  the  great  British 
company  withdrew  in  1859,  the  property  at  the 
several  posts  was  offered  to  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment for  $1,000,000.  A  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  estimate  the  value  of  the  improvements 
at  Fort  Vancouver.  The  property  had  been  so 
looted  and  wasted  by  the  squatters  who  hurried  to 
take  possession  as  soon  as  it  was  vacated,  that  the 
commissioners  found  justification  for  appraising  this 
estate  at  $250 ! 


aH*'.v'.-£teS'' 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  MORMON   MIGRATION 

Thus  far  the  dominant  motive  in  the  westward 
movement  had  been  the  demand  for  new  lands,  the 
desire   to  better  material   conditions.     The  initial 
impulse  in  the  peopling  of  the  Great  Basin  was  given 
by  religious  persecution.     Like  the  Pilgrims  who 
founded    Plymouth    Colony,    the   Mormon    leaiers 
sought  an  unoccupied  country  where  they  might  be 
free  to  worship  God  according  to  their  own  con- 
victions and  might  build  a  commonwealth  after  their 
own    notions    of   moral    and    spiritual    well-being. 
First  in  Ohio  and  then  in  Missouri,  they  had  at- 
tempted to  establish  a  community  patterned  upon 
the  revelations  enunciated  by  their  prophet,  Joseph 
Pniith.     Such  an  enter])rise  was  of  necessity  exclu- 
sive, and  this  exclusiveness,  coupled  with  their  i)ro- 
jects  of  universal  dominion,  aroused  the  envy  and  ill- 
will  of  their  "  Gentile  "  neighbors.     Driven  from  their 
Missouri   homes   by   mob   violence    (Independfuice, 
1S;U  ;   Far  West,  1S8S)  and  forced  to  abandon  lands 
tind  property,  they  found  refuge  in  Illinois.     Com- 
merce, a  liltle  settlement  on  a  bluff  overlooking  the 
Mississippi,  was  purchased  by  their  agent  and  re- 
ciiristened  Nauvoo.     There,  by  dint  of  thrift  and 
solidarity,    the    Latter    Day    Saints   soon    accjuired 
fjiniis,  started  manufactures,  and  accunuilated  von- 
«!uerablc  wealth.     Mis><i()naries  were  sent   tlirough- 

167 


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i\ 


1  ,  1 


ii  I 


168 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


if 

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fi 


1  ': 


out  the  civilized  world  (1840)  to  enlist  converts  and 
solicit  financial  aid  for  the  New  Jerusalem.  By 
1844,  thirty  thousand  Mormons  were  gathered  at 
Nauvoo,  and  twice  as  many  disciples  in  the  Eastern 
states,  in  England,  in  Scandinavia,  and  in  Germany, 
were  preparing  to  join  their  revered  leader  in  this 
new  Zion. 

The  frontier  population  of  lUinois  was  hardly  less 
lawless  than  that  of  Missouri.  River  pirates, 
refugees  from  justice,  half-breed  Indians,  defiant 
squatters,  mingled  with  the  law-abiJing  element, 
both  in  Nauvoo  and  in  the  surrounding  country. 
The  Mormons,  on  the  other  hand,  were  charged  with 
harboring  cattle  thieves,  counterfeiters,  and  polyga- 
mists.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  some  of  the  more 
ignorant  and  reckless  brethren  interpreted  as  im- 
mediate in  application  the  prediction  that  the  saints 
should  inherit  the  earth,  and  so  regarded  the  theft  of 
cattle  and  grain  from  Gentile  farmers  as  justifiable,— 
the  "spoiling  of  the  Egyptians"  as  the  phrase  was. 
The  authorities  were  both  unwilling  and  unable  to 
enforce  the  law  against  either  contestant,  words 
waxed  to  blows,  and  in  the  end  the  much-enduring 
Mormons  were  once  more  forced  to  migrate.  A 
scant  space  of  six  months  was  allowed  them  in 
which  to  sell  their  possessions  and  purchase  the 
wagons,  oxen,  and  supplies  for  this  third  decamp- 
ment. Their  determination  to  go  into  a  far  wilder- 
ness, beyond  *he  reach  of  their  persecutors,  was 
sealed  by  the  betrayal  and  murder  of  Joseph  Smith. 
That  crime  was  the  final  demonstration  of  the 
UupUcity  t)f  the  Gentile  world  and  the  necessity  of 


ili^ 


J 


h 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION  169 

building  an  independent  commonwealth  where  the 
Saints  might  dwell  in  peace  and  safety.  No  true 
Mormon  hesitated  to  face  the  issue. 

In  February,  1846,  the  advance-guard  crossed  the 
Mississippi  and  formed  a  temporary  camp  at  Sugar 
Creek,  about  nine  miles  back  from  the  river.    Early 
in  March,  sixteen  hundred  men,  women,  and  children 
set  out  thence  to  cross  the  rolling  plains  of  southern 
Iowa.     Wood,  water,  and  game  were  abundant,  and 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  securing  food  from  the 
farmers   along   the   route   in   exchange   for   labor. 
Arrived  at  Council  Blufifs,  they  crossed  the  Missouri 
and  camped  in  the  Indian  reservation.     Here  among 
the  Ottawas  or  in  the  Pottawattamie  bottoms  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  river,  the  refugees  found  sanctuary. 
For  twenty  years   thereafter,   the   Bluffs   was   the 
point  of  departure  for  the  Mormon  who  had  set  his 
face  Zionward,  and  a  "Winter  Quarters"  was  main- 
tained where  the  emigrants  might  recuperate  and 
secure  the  outfit  for  their  journey  across  the  plains.* 
Here  fields  were  planted  and  cattle  gathered  for  the 
use  of  the  ever  increasing  tide.     A  grist-mill  was 
built   to  prepare  the  flour,   and   blacksmiths  and 
wheelwrights  were   employed    to  make    ready  the 
wagons  that  were  to  transport  the  ''  Saints  "  and  their 
belongings  to  the  land  of  promise,  and  here,  during 
the  summer   and    autumn   of    1846,    the   Nauvoo 
refugees  rallied.     The  late  comers,  those  who  because 
of  illness  or  inability   to   provide   means   for  the 
journey  had  delayed  their  departure    till  Septem- 
ber, suffered  severely.     Overtaken  by  winter  storms 
and  scantily  supplied  with  food  and  clothing,  they 


w 


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170 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


ii 

I, 


encountered  every  hardship.  Exposure  and  the 
malaria-haunted  country  through  which  they  were 
marching  bred  disease.  The  names  given  to  their 
halting  places,  Poor  Camp  and  Misery  Bottom, 
attested  their  wretched  plight.  Had  not  food  and 
fresh  oxen  been  sent  to  their  aid  from  Winter  Quar- 
ters, the  women  and  children,  the  sick  and  aged 
must  have  perished.  Under  the  efficient  direction 
of  the  apostles,  the  combined  resources  of  the 
church  were  brought  to  bear  in  this  trek  of  a  de- 
voted people,  and  every  individual  gave  ungrudg- 
ingly time,  strength,  and  skill  to  the  task  of  making 
provision  for  the  needy.  By  intelligent  cooperation 
fifteen  thousand  human  beings  with  three  thousand 
wagons,  thirty  thousand  cattle,  large  flocks  of 
sheep,  and  all  manner  of  tools,  machinery,  and  ma- 
terials deemed  serviceable  in  the  colonization  of  a 
wilderness  were  conveyed  across  the  four  hundred 
miles  between  Nauvoo  and  Council  Bluffs  in  the 
short  space  of  six  months.' 

It  was  a  great  achievement,  but  only  the  begin- 
ning of  the  task  the  Mormon  leaders  had  set  them- 
selves. Brigham  Young,  the  successor  of  Joseph 
Smith  in  the  presidency,  had  determined  to  plate 
his  flock  beyond  the  mountains  that  formed  the 
western  limit  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  out  of 
reach  of  persecution.  Litth  was  then  known  of  the 
vast  bi'sin  or  series  of  basins  lying  between  the 
continental  divide  and  the  Sierra  Nevada,  exropt 
that  the  region  was  arid,  treeless,  and  comparatively 
destitute  of  animal  life.  It  was  indicated  on  con- 
temporary  maps  as   the  Great   American   Uesort. 


'.« I 


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k  -     111  -     I  III  '    iii   i  II  iiiiH    ii—i|  'I  I         III  -  nil    riii"iii  III     n 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


171 


Trappers  had  followed  the  mountain  streams  and 
practically   exterminated    the   beaver,    Ashley   had 
held    his   rendezvous   at  Salt   Lake,  and  Jedidiah 
Smith  had  made  this  desolate  spot  his  headquarters. 
W.  A.  Walker  had  crossed  (1833)  the  desert  to  the 
Sierras  beyond,  returning  by  way  of  Ogden  River. 
Ten  years  later,  the  "pathfinder,"  under  the  guidance 
of  Kit  Carson,  had  explored  the  Great  Salt  Lake  and 
reported  his  "discovery"  to  the  government.     Fre- 
mont's brilliant  Journal  was  printed  in   1845  and 
may  have  fallen  into   the  hands  of  the  Mormon 
leader;   but  in  any  case,  the  route  to  South  Pass 
and  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  Upper  California 
were  well  known,  so  that  migration  to  that  region 
could  not   be  regarded  as  an  enterprise  requiring 
superhuman  foresight.     It  was  the  part  of  a  judicious 
Moses,  however,  to  go  in  advance  of  his  people  and 
spy  out  the  land. 

Early  in  April  of  1847,  President  Young,  with  a 
company  of  one  hundred  and  forty  picked  men,  set 
out  to  discover  the  promised  Zion.  Seventy-three 
ox  carts  were  loaded  with  food  for  the  march  and 
with  farm  implements,  seeds,  and  carpenters'  tools 
for  the  preparation  of  quarters  for  the  later  migra- 
tion. The  south  bank  of  the  Platte  was  the  usual 
route  of  the  Oregonians,  but  Young  followed  the 
north  bank.  It  was  higher  and  more  wholesome 
and  offered  better  pasturage  and  fewer  Indians  than 
the  beaten  trail,  and  the  Mormons  were  desirous, 
moreover,  to  avoid  coming  into  conflict  with  Mis- 
sourians  and  other  troublpsnme  emigrants.  Their 
order  of  march  was  like  that  of  disciplined  troops. 


% 


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A.    ,, 


I!  ,     I; 


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m 


1.  'i' 


172 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Every  man  walked  with  his  gun  loaded  and  powder- 
horn  ready,  the  wagons  were  kept  well  together, 
and  an  advance-guard  determined  the  most  practi- 
cable road  and  looked  out  for  buffalo  and  marauding 
Indians.  The  night  encampment  was  a  model  of 
its  kind.  The  wagons  were  drawn  into  a  semi- 
circle, with  diameter  on  the  river,  in  such  fashion 
that  the  tongues  formed  an  awkward  barricade  and 
the  fore- wheel  of  each  wagon,  interlocking  with  the 
hind  wheel  of  the  wagon  in  front  of  it,  completed  a 
substantial  corral.  Within  this  enclosure  the  cattle 
were  confined,  while  the  tents  were  placed  outside. 
The  night  watch  was  intrusted  to  experienced  men 

only. 

Early  in  June  the  little  army  reached  Fort  Lar- 
amie, the  former  trading  post  at  the  foot  of  the  Black 
Hills,  and  here  they  halted  to  build  rafts  for  the  cross- 
ing of  the  North  Platte  and  to  dry  meat  for  the  moun- 
tain journey.  Here,  too,  they  secured  a  considerable 
addition  to  their  scanty  stock  of  food  as  compensa- 
tion for  the  service  rendered  a  party  destined  for 
Oregon,  who  were  glad  to  make  use  of  the  impromptu 
ferry.  At  Fort  Laramif^,  Young  left  a  detachment 
of  nine  men  to  maintain  the  ferry  as  a  means  of  ol)- 
taining  money  and  supplies  from  the  Oregonians  and 
for  the  use  of  the  Mormon  emigrants  when  they 
should  arrive.  Once  over  South  Pass  and  on  west- 
ward-flowing water,  the  "pioneers"  turned  south 
from  the  Oregon  Trail  and,  following  down  the  Big 
Sandy,  came  to  the  Green  River,  over  which  they 
rafted  the  wagon?.  Black's  Fork  led  them  to  Fort 
Bridger,  which  Orson  Pratt  describes  as  "two  ad- 


'!  * 


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THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


173 


joining  log  houses,  with  dirt  roofs,  and  a  sn  W  picket 
yard  of  logs  set  in  the  ground,  about  eight  et  high. 
The  number  of  men,  squaws  and  half-breec  children 
in  these  houses  and  [the  surrounding]  lodgeb  may  be 
about  fifty  or  sixty."  Colonel  Bridger  gave  a  most 
discouraging  account  of  the  agricultural  post-  hilities 
of  the  Cordilleran  area.  The  "whole  region  was 
sandy  and  destitute  of  timber  and  vegetation  except 
the  sage  brush."  He  knew  exceptions,  such  as  Bear 
Valley,  Cache  Valley,  and  the  Wil' 
fertile  oases  were  preempted  eith* 
Indians.  There  was  a ' '  good  couii 
Lake  where  the  Indians  were  Pf^ 
corn  and  wheat  and  pumpkins  as 
old  Kentucky,"  and  twenty  days'  m 
the  aborigines  grew  any  quantin- 
wheat' 
first  ear  ' 

eluding  la  V  would  not  turn  back  ant  s    hey  had 

seen  the  couinry  for  themseh  s,  tht  H)nef»rs" 
pushed  on,  directly  west,  and       md  th-  ■  with 

considerable  difficulty,  to  EcL  anot  u  a  !\>ss  •  he 
range  to  Emigration  Canon,  -a  narr  «  HU-  that 
opens  on  to  the  mesa  overlooking  San  i  \  alley. 
Two  small  rvers  flowing  down  from  tl  ,'asatch 
Range  madf  :his  seem  a  promising  local  n,  and  here 
within  two  nours  of  their  arrival  (Jul>  J3)  the  <1- 
vance-guard  began  to  plough  for  a  belated  planting. 
The  baked  earth  was  hard  as  iron,  and  sf-veral  of  ihe 
shares  were  broken  in  the  attempt  to  turn  a  furrow. 
To  soften  the  soil,  they  dammed  the  creek  and  di- 
rected the  flow  over  the  land.     The  device  worked 


'  but  he  was  ready  to  offer  $1  ^JO 
^f  corn  grown  in  the  Great  Bo  in 


■e,  hut  ese 
vhitc  nui;  »r 
outh  of  Ui  ^h 
ag  '  IS  gtM  { 
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a  farther  mth 
the  v^Tv  be>i 
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174 


AMERICAN  SETILERS 


t 


satisfactorily  and  was  used  there  after,  not  only  to 
soften  the  soil,  but  to  moisten  the  seed.  The  dam- 
ming of  City  Oeek  marked  the  beginning  of  irrigation 
in  the  Great  Basin.  Pueblo  Indians  and  their  Spanish 
successors  had  practised  irrigation  in  Now  Mexico, 
after  inherited  methods ;  but  that  Yankee  farmers  and 
EngUsh  artisans  should  have  hit  upon  the  process  with 
their  first  planting  argues  a  high  degree  of  ingenuity. 
During  the  month  of  August,  some  eighty  acres 
were  planted  to  corn  and  potatoes.  The  wheat  crop 
was  a  failure  because  planted  too  late  to  ripen,  but 
enough  potatoes  were  gathered  to  furnish  seed  for 
the  coming  year.  Shelter  was  quite  as  important  as 
food,  and  me'  were  sent  to  bring  down  timber  from 
the  mountains  or  the  construction  of  a  fort.^  A  pit- 
saw  was  soon  erected,  and  some  thirty  houses  were 
built  of  logs  and  adobe  in  four  blocks  so  as  to  form  a 
hollow  square  ten  acres  in  extent.  The  outside  walls 
were  perforated  with  loopholes  only,  and  all  doors 
and  windows  opened  on  the  court,  after  the  fashion 
of  a  palisaded  fort  in  frontier  Kentucky. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  August,  less  than  a  month 
at  r  the  arrival  of  the  "pioneers,"  a  company  of 
seventy  men  was  sent  back  to  meet  the  main  body 
of  the  refugees  and  escort  them  over  the  mountains. 
The  "first  emigration"  comprised  1553  men,  women, 
and  children.  Their  live  stock  consisted  of  2213  cattle, 
124  horses,  887  cows,  358  sheep,  with  a  few  hogs 
and  chickens.  This  great  train  with  its  566  prairie 
schooners  set  out  from  Elkhorn  River  on  the  fourth  of 
July  and  arrived  at  Soli  Lake  on  the  twenty-seventh  of 
September  in  good  health  and  without  serious  mishap. 


t!l    •: 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


175 


i 

4 

I 

-a 


4"*  I  ^ 


; ) 


}  ! 


Ml 


.  1 

!  i   . 

M 


: 


i'^^ 


176 


■)    »■ 


f     i 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Once  in  the  valley,  the  way-worn  emigrants  en- 
countered  a  staggering  disappointment.     The  pros- 
pect   a^    they   descended    Emigration    Canon    was 
beautiful  as  scenery,  but  it  did  not  promise  much  in 
the  way  of  sustenance.    The  plain  was  a  waste  of 
sage-brush,  over  which  floated  a  heat  mirage  dis- 
torting  distant  objects.    The  ground  was  white  with 
alkah  and  infested  with  black  crickets,  lizards,  and  rat. 
tlesnakes.     Only  along  the  creeks  flowing  down  from 
the  mountains  was  there  any  green,  and  here  grew 
nothing   but   Cottonwood,    willow,    and   scrub-oak. 
Trees  suitable  for  building  -  a.h,  maple,  fir,  and 
pme  --  were  back  in  the  canons,  eight  or  ten  miles 
distant  from  the  site  of  the  city,  and  the  only  pas- 
turage was  the  bunch  grass  that  covered  the  mesa. 
Return  was  unthinkable,  however,  and  the  Saints 
resolutely  set  to  work,  dotermined  to  force  the  deseit 
to  yield  them  a  living.     Those  who  had  arrived  too 
late  to  secure  cabins,  dug  caves  in  the  dry  earth  or 
placed  the  covered  wagon  beds  upon  the  ground  and 
used  them  for  shelter.     The  rainy  season  was  cold 
and  unco>ufortal)lo,  but  it  reassured  them  as  to  the 
chances  of  agriculture. 

The  city  was  soon  laid  out  in  wide  streets  and 
house  lots  of  an  acre  and  a  (juarter  each.     Five-acre 
ots  worn  surv,.yod  in  the  suburbs  as  garden  plots  for 
he  m(.,.hnnu.s.     li.ycnd  wore  the  farm  lots  of  ton 
forty    and   eighty  acn-s,   i„,,.,asing   with   distance 
from  the  population  cvnUr.     After  the  initial  vear 
of  common  cultivation,  these  lands  were  assigned  in 
all  comers  as  e(,uitably  as  might  be,  each  man  dnnv- 
liur  for  hi«  no.-fj^..  ,,f  ^i  -  •  •   • 

"      '  i-'Kh:  o!  tfic  general  iniieritance.     To 


its  en- 
pros- 

1    was 

iich  in 

ste  of 

3  dis- 

i  with 

idrat- 
froni 
grew 

•-oak. 
and 

miles 
pas- 

nesa. 

aints 

eseit 

I  too 

h  or 

and 

cold 
the 

and 
icre 

for 
[on, 
nco 
oar 

to 
i\v- 
To 


I'^lli.HAI  ION    (  ■  \.N(i\. 


1  ' 

•  1 
1  ( 

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.:.M 


i!  •  I 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


177 


the  leaders  who  had  plural  wives  and  large  families, 
a  proportionate  holding  was  awarded.     Ten-acre  lots 
were  reserved  for  the  temple  and  for  public  parks. 
As    the    Danes  "  roped    out"   their    arable    lands 
in   conquered   .\nglia,   so   these   conquerors  of   the 
desert  divided  to  each  man  his  portion.      Claims 
were  based  on  need  and  use.     Brigham  Young  is 
reported  as  saying  "that  no  man  should  buy  land 
who  came  here ;  that  he  had  none  to  sell ;  but  every 
man  should  have  his  land  measured  out  to  him  for 
city  and  farming  purposes.     He  might  till  it  as  he 
pleased,  but  he  must  be  industrious  and  take  care 
of  it."  ^    In  the  First  General  Epistle  issued  in  the 
autumn  of  1849,  the  president  stated:  "A  field  of 
eight  thousand   acres  has   been  surveyed   south  of 
and  bordering  on  the  city.     The  five  and  ten  acre 
lots  are  distributed  to  the  brethren  by  casting  lots, 
and  every  man  is  to  build  a  pole,  ditch,  or  stone  fence 
as  shall  be  most  convenient,  around  the  whole  field 
in  proportion  to  the  land  he  draws ;  also  a  canal  on 
the  east  side  for  the  purpose  of  irrigation."     A  quite 
similar  apportionment  of  land  and  labor  was  custom- 
ary in  colonial  New  England.     The  common  fence 
and  the  common  ditch  and  the  common  pasture  (to 
which  the  cows  were  driven  by  a  common  herder) 
were  not  the  effect  of  Owcnism  or  Fourierism  or  any 
of  the  contemporary  communistic  theories,  but  the 
dictates  of  common-sense  and  brotherly  cooperation. 
The  same  union  of  effort  was  evidenced  in  the  set- 
ting up  of  a  pit-saw  and  the  building  of  the  first  saw- 
and  grist-mills.     The  wator-powor  f»f  the  mountain 
streams  was  rapidly  utilized,  and  sixteen  sawmills 


VOL.   II 


*H 


1 1' 

'1'     « 

if  .1 

.:•■       1  t 

1.!    /     t  '       ., 


.  i 

?  i 

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; 

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^ 

178 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


and  eleven  grist-mills  were  completed  by  the  spring 
of  1850.*  Irrigating  canals,  mill-dams,  roads,  and 
bridges  would  have  been  impossible  without  such 
cooperation.  The  so-called  "pubUc  works"  were 
accomplished  by  labor  furnished  as  equivalent  for 
the  tithes  due  from  all  church  members  and  offered 
by  assisted  emigrants  in  return  for  transportation. 
So  were  built  on  Temple  Block  the  first  shops  for  car- 
penters, blacksmiths,  and  machinists.  Here,  and  by 
contributed  labor,  was  forged  and  cast  the  machinery 
used  in  the  flour  and  lumber  mills,  also  carding  ma- 
chines, fanning  mills  and  farm  tools,  —  the  iron  being 
taken  from  the  hubs  and  tires  of  discarded  wagons. 
Later,  when  produce  and  even  money  began  to  be 
brought  to  the  tithing  office,  laborers  were  hired  and 
paid  in  food  and  clothing,  and  many  a  successful 
business  man  was  helped  to  his  start  in  life  by  em- 
ployment on  the  public  works.  The  directing  genius 
of  all  these  enterprises  was  Brigham  Young.  Never 
had  a  great  colonizer  so  free  a  hand.  His  word  was 
law,  and  his  requisitions  were  complied  with  in  Scrip- 
ture measure.  Not  even  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania 
had  more  definite  plans  for  his  ideal  city  or  was  move 
autocratic  in  determining  the  l)usiness  undertakings 
of  the  people  who  came  to  the  New  World  under  his 
auspices. 

In  March  of  1848  the  population  of  Salt  Lake  City 
was  1671 ;  423  houses  had  been  put  up,  and  there 
were  5000 acres  under  cultivation  (500  being  planted 
to  wheat) ;  the  outlook  for  the  future  was  full  of 
promise,  Th(m  befell  a  staggering  calamity.  A 
"plague  of  locusts"  overspread  the  land  and  threat 


111 


Mi 


f^ALl     l.VKK    CjIV     IN     Is  I:). 

I.'>(ikiii«  last. 


r. 


Hi  - 


1. 


'il 


>  M  r   l.vKi    (  ■|r^    is    is.yj 

' I^nii;  s,,iil  h. 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION  179 

ened  to  destroy  the  crops.    The  people  combated  their 
advance  with  every  conceivable  device,  but  it  was  a 
losing  fight.    They  had  given  up  the  stniggle  in  de- 
spair, when  lo  !  a  great  flock  of  gulls  came  up  from  the 
lake  and  gorged  themselves  upon  the  enemy.     To 
the  half-starved  Saints  this  seemed  a  miracle,  but  it 
was  fortunately  a  miracle  that  happened  every  year. 
The  remnant  of  the  crops  was  saved,  though  barely 
enough  to  carry  the   'pioneers"  and  the  summer's 
accession  of  three  thousand  emigrants  through  the 
next   winter.     This   was   the   Mormons'    "starving 
time."     Frost  and  snow  were  exceptionally  severe 
that  year,  and  fuel  was  scarce.     The  ..tock  of  flour 
ran  so  low  that  from  February  to  July  the  ration 
was  three-quarters  of  a  pound  per  head  per  day. 
Many  families  were  reduced  to  digging  the  roots  of 
the  sego  lily  for  food,  and  a  rawhide  broth  was  made 
from  old  buffalo  robes.    Word  was  sent  to  Winter 
Quarters  that  no  emigrants  should  bo  forwarded  the 
coming  season  who  were  not  fully  self-sustaining,  and 
that  these  must  bring  several  months'  supply  of 
bread-stuffs. 

Even  so,  the  colony  might  have  perished  but  for  a 
quite  unforeseen  event;  viz.,  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
the  Sacramento  Valley.  The  first  gold-seekers  ar- 
rived at  Salt  Lake  in  August,  1849,  and  the  Mormon 
settlement  soon  became  the  halfway  station  on  the 
overland  route  to  California  and  an  important  trad- 
in;^  post.  In  their  wild  race  to  be  first  in  the  field, 
the  "forty-niners"  were  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice! 
Fresh  horscH  and  muU>  were  purchased  at  ten  times 
theireastern  value,  while  the  jaded  animals  of  the  pack 


I ,»  ' 


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180 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


trains,  often  of  excellent  breed,  were  abandoned  or  sold 
for  a  song.     Flour  brought  $25  per  hundredweight, 
and  the  labor  of  skilled  mechanics— blacksmiths  and 
wheelwrights  —  rose  to  $3  a  day.    On  the  other  hand, 
"States  goods,"  unobtainable  hitherto  at  any  price, 
sold  at  New  York  rates,  or  even  less.     Merchants  who 
had  stocked  up  for  the  California  trade,  hearing  that 
goods  were  being  sent  round  the  Horn,  were  glad  to 
dispose  of  their  merchandise  in  this  certain  market. 
Money,  thus  far  the  scarcest  of  commodities,  began 
to  circulate.     The  awkward  produce  payments  and 
the  promissory  notes  issued  by  the  apostles  were  no 
longer   necessary.     A  transportation  enterprise  was 
organized  under  the  auspices  of  the  church,  the  Great 
Salt  Lake  Valley  Carrying  Company,  for  the  convey- 
ance of  passengers  and  freight  from  the  Missouri 
River  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  proved  very  profitable. 
The  rate  for  passengers  was  $300  each  and  for  goods, 
S250  per  ton. 

President  Young  did  not  intend  his  people  to  become 
dependent  on  the  outside  world.  The  difficulty  of 
maintaining  a  colony  divided  from  any  market  by  one 
thousand  miles  of  wagon  trail  was  far  greater  than 
on  the  seaboard  within  reach  of  supply  ships,  and 
from  the  start  the  Mormons  understood  that  they 
must  be  self-sustaining.  Cloth  and  blankets  were 
woven  on  hand-looms,  the  wool  ^.eing  carded  and  spun 
by  the  thrifty  houspwivos.  Not  only  shoes  and  boots, 
but  clothes,  were  made  of  deer  and  elk  skins.  The 
brine  of  the  lake  yielded  from  one-third  to  one-fourth 
its  woicht  in  salt,  and  this  necessity  of  life  was  hauled 
by  the  wagon-load  from  works  set  up  on  the  shore. 


•i 


jg.V^. 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION  181 

A  supply  was  even  sent  back  to  Winter  Quarters. 
The  soda  springs  a  few  miles  to  the  north  were  made 
to  serve  another  prime  need.     Sugar  was   not   a 
product  of  the  desert,   but  Old  World  experience 
suggested  that  saccharine  might  be  obtained  from 
corn  or  from  beets.     A  crushing  mill  was  built  from 
the  funds  of  the  church  in  1855,  the  machinery  being 
welded  out  of  scrap  iron.    Under  the  same  benign 
auspices,  a  tannery,  a  pottery,  a  woollen  mill,  and  a 
nail  factory  were  soon  in  operation,  and  a  railroad 
was  built  up  the  canon  to  bring  stone  from  a  distant 
quarry.     Bishops  were  accustomed  to  instruct  their 
flocks  in  the  economical  administration  of  their  farms 
and  to  read  in  pubhc  a  list  of  those  who  were  to  be 
commended   for   superior   husbandry,    fencing  and 
other  improvements,  —  also  a  black  list  of  the  "idle, 
slothful  and  unimproving  portion  of  the  community,' 
who  were  held  up  to  reprobation,  and  threatened,  in 
default  of  certain  tasks  allotted  them  being  finished 
at  the  next  visit,  to  be  deprived  of  their  lots  and  ex- 
pelled the  community."  ^ 

An  agricultural  society  was  established  for  the  pur- 
pose of  instructing  the  new-comers  in  the  methods  of 
irrigation,  making  experiments  in  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, and  offering  prizes  to  the  most  successful 
farmers.  The  territorial  assembly  (1855)  offered 
prizes  for  the  largest  crop  of  flaxseed,  hemp,  flower 
seed,  etc.,  grown  on  a  half  acre  of  ground,  and  a  re- 
ward of  .SIOOO  was  offered  (1854)  to  the  discoverer  of 
a  bed  of  merchantable  coal  within  fen<ible  reach  of 
Salt  Lake  City.  Rewards  were  proposed,  also,  for  the 
manufactureofriflepowderfrommaterialsfoundinthe 


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182 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


territory,— $100  for  the  first  hundred  pounds,  SlOO 
for  the  second,  $50  for  the  third,  and  so  on  till  two 
thousand  pounds  should  be  put  upon  the  market. 
Moreover,  capital  was  encouraged  to  invest  in  the 
region  by  liberal  terms  of  incorporation.     The  Des- 
eret  Iron  Company  was  chartered  in  1853  in  the  hope 
of  developing  the  mineral  resources  of  the  Escallante 
Valley,  and  the  church  and  the  territorial  govern- 
ment took  $10,000  worth  of  stock.    The  Provo  Manu- 
facturing Company  was  authorized  (1853)  to  raise  a 
capital  of   $1,000,000   and   to  employ   it  "in  such 
manufactures  as  they  shall  deem  best  *  *  *  and  for 
the  erection  and  maintenance  of  such  machinery, 
dams,  buildings,  races,  watercourses,  bridges,  roads, 
etc.,"  as  might  serve  their  purpose. 

Labor  adequate  to  all  these  enterprises  was  in- 
sured by  a  steady  stream  of  immigrants.  The  Per- 
petual Emigration  Fund  was  organized  (1849)  for 
the  purpose  of  assisting  needy  Saints  to  reach  the 
city  of  their  hopes.  The  sum  of  $5000  was  raised  at 
Salt  Lake  in  1849,  and  $35,000  was  collected  abroad 
in  the  next  five  years.  The  expenses  of  transporta- 
tion were  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  the  recipient 
of  aid  was  expected  to  restore  the  sum  to  the  treasury 
as  soon  as  possible,  in  order  that  others  of  the  world's 
poor  might  enjoy  a  like  benefit.* 

In  1855  disaster  again  befell  the  infant  colony. 
Grasshoppers  swarmed  the  fields  and  threatened  to 
be  as  destructive  as  the  "  crickets  "  had  been.  The 
following  winter  was  unusually  severe.  The  poorer 
families  were  reduced  to  rations  of  roots  and  raw- 
hide, and  gre?t  was  the  suffering  in  the  frail  wagon 


'(;.\THti(i.NXi  To  ZiuN.  "     Life  by  thk  Wav. 


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The  Hasi)(  \ht  IvMiiiii wis  in  a  Stohm. 


*     MM     11 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


183 


tents.    The  Emigration  Fund  was  by  this  time  so 
depleted  that  a  cheaper  method  of  transportation 
was  proposed.     Tlie  emigrants   were   to   cross   the 
Plains  on  foot,  pushing  their  belongings  in  hand- 
carts, and  the  charge  for  the  journey  from  Liverpool 
to  Salt  Lake  on  these  terms  was  reduced  from  £15 
to  £9  with  half  rates  for  infants  in  arms.     In  the 
summer  of  1856,  thirteen  hundred  people  were  sent 
over  the  Mormon  Trail  in  five  different  companies,  — 
the  so-called  "hand-cart  brigades."     To  each  hun- 
dred were  allotted  five  tents,  twenty  hand-carts,  and 
one  wagon  drawn  by  three  yoke  of  oxen.     Tents  and 
general  supphes  were  stowed  in  the  wagon,  but  each 
family  carried  its  own  rations  and  its  quota  of  the 
sick  and  helpless  in  the  hand-cart,    while   women 
and  children,  from  the  toddlers  to  the  aged,  walked 
the  weary  road  (a  three  ro-nths'  tramp)  from  Winter 
Quarters  to  the  Valley.    The  first  three  companies 
suffered  no  more  than  the  inevitable  hardships,  but 
the  two  last,  delayed  by  the  scarcity  of  carts  until 
mid-August,    suffered     terribly    from    hunger    and 
drought,  were  overtaken  by  heavy  snow-storms  in 
the  mountains,  and  the  loss  of  life  was  great.     The 
news  of  this  disaster,  together  with  discouraging  re- 
ports concerning  crops,  etc.,  checked  the  emigration 
movement.     It  never  again  reached  the  proportions  of 
1855,  and  the  hand-cart  experiment  was  not  repealed. 
In  the  fifteen  years  between  1840  and  1854,  twenty- 
two  thousand  Mormons  took  ship  for  America,  three- 
fourths  of  this  number  after  1848.     The  bulk  of  these 
people  came  from  Great  Britain.     At  Liverpool,  an 
authorized  agent  of  the  ch  .-ch  chartered  tlie  ships 


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and  sold   the  tickets,   commissioning  one  or  more 
elders  tc   take   charge  of   the  emigrants  en  ro7ite. 
These  were  responsible  lor   good  order  and  cleanli- 
ness, and   .  :  have  abundant  testimony  to  the  effect 
that  I  le  persoui^f'!  of  these  companies  was  higher 
and  t   <  i     staudan.s  of   health  and  conduct  much 
better  'h.nj  <,u    toe    .jidinary  passenger  steamers.^ 
If  the    port   was    New  Yoik  or    Philadelphia,    the 
emigrants  went  over  the  AUeghanics  to  the  Ohio 
River  and  thence  by  boat  to  bt.  Loui  5 ;    but  *.\e  more 
economical,  and  therefore  the  more  usual,  route  was 
by  way  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi   and 
Missouri  rivers  to  St.  Louis  or  Keokuk,   Indepen- 
dence or  the  Bluffs,— whatever  point  of  departure 
for  the  >verland  joiuney  might  have  been  determined 
on.     At  each  transfer  was  an  agent  who  looked  after 
the  comfort  of  the  emigrants  and  furnished  them 
with  the  necessary  supplies.     For  the  journey  across 
the    Plains,    a    carrying    company    was   o.-ganized 
which  was  ready  to  transport  passengers  and  luggage 
as  well  as  ordinary  freight  at  reasonable  charges. 
Tliis  did  away  with  the  necessity  of  buying  oxen  and 
wagons  at  these  congested  points,  where  the  demand 
was  always  in  excess  of  the  supply.     In  this  service 
and  in  th(>  retailing  of  oxen,  wagons,  and  food  to  in- 
experienced foreigners,  there  was  abundant  oppor- 
tunity for  maltreatment  and  speculation;    but  the 
representatives  of  tiie  cliurch  seem,  as  a  rule,  to  have 
performed  their  duties  with  connnendabie  ability  and 
uprightness.     It  was,  taken  all  in  all,  tlie  most  suc- 
cessful exaniple  of  regulated  immigration  in  United 
States  history. 


I 


TFIE   MORMON  MIGRATION  185 

The  march  of  this  motley  multitude  was  managed 
by  an  organization  suggestive  of  that  under  which 
the  Angles  and  Saxons  migrated  to  Britain.     The 
ptc_)ie  were  divided  and  subdivided  into  hundreds 
and  fifties  and  tens,  the  natural  attachments  of  kin- 
ship and  neighborhood  being  observed,  and  to  each 
division  was  assigned  a  responsible  captain.     Each 
hundred  was  to  provide  itself  with  oxen,  carts,  and 
all  needed  supplies.     For  a  party  of  ten,  a  wagon,  two 
niilch  cows,  and  a  tent  was  the  standard  recpiire- 
nient.'"     Each  was  to  send  forward  pioneers  to  plant 
crops  and  build  houses,  eacn  was  to  care  for  its  pro- 
portion of  -the  poor,  the  widows,  the  fatherless,  and 
the  families  of  those  who  have  gone  into  the  army."  »' 
Military  order  was  observed  on  the  march  and  in  the 
encampments,   the  several  officers  taking  turns  at 
guard  duty  about   the  improvised  corral.     On  this 
plan  were  organized  all  the  IVIormon  companies  that 
crossed  the  Plains  for  the  next  thirty  years,  until  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway  was  carried  through  to  O^den. 
Thorough  discipline  and  mutual  aid  were  the  means 
by  which  one  hundred  thousand  people,  the  majority 
of  them  women  and  children,  were  conducted  over 
one  thousand  miles  ' '  d(.sert  and  mountain  with  a 
nunimuin  of  loss  ;        r  and  prr)perty. 

'i'hc()riginal  sf)ur('e  of  this  extraordinary  migration 
W!is  Xauvoo,  but  lafer  accessions  came  from  the 
Eastern  and  Southern  slates,  from  England,  Wales, 
Scotland,  and  Scandinavia.  The  fourth  and  fifth  dec' 
;"1''>^  of  the  nineteenth  century  proved  an  epoch  of 
misery  and  unnst,  when  tlie  poor  <>f  pyorv  \-\\yA  were 
necking  escape  from  political  and  industrial  oppres- 


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186 


AJ.'' 


MERICAN  SETTLERS 


sion,  and  no  solution  of  their  difficulties  was  too 
iransccndental  for  credence.    The  wretched  opera- 
tives of  Manchester  and  Birmingham,  workmen  in 
the  potteries  of  Staffordshire,  miners  of  the  Lan- 
cashire collieries,  the  struggling  artisans  of  London, 
the  landless  peasants  of  Scotland,  the  superfluous 
population  of  Norway,  caught  eagerly  at  this  op- 
portunity to  secure  earthly  prosperity  and  eternal 
salvation  at  one  stroke.     Thousands  accepted  the 
Mormon  faith  and  prepared  to  migra^^e  to  the  prom- 
ised land  with  the  vaguest  notion  of  the  chances  and 
hardships  involved.     By  far  the  greater  number  were 
farmers  and  mechanics  of  the  better  class  who  had 
the  means  to  remove  to  the  land  of  opportunity.     A 
large  proportion,  according  to  official  statistics  of 
the  British  government,  were  skilled  laborers  wlm 
carried  with  them  the  tools  needed  to  pursue  their 
occupation.     The  amount  of  hold  lug'-.../'^  brought 
to  the  dock  by  Mormon  passengers  was  a  common 
complaint  of  ships'  captains,  who  avowed  that  the 
vessel  lay  an  inch  deeper  in  the  water  or.  this  account. 
The  migiation  agents  were  directed  by  the  church 
authorities  "to  seek  diligently  in  every  branch  [of 
their  British  church]  for  wise,  skilful  and  ingenious 
mechanics,    manufacturers,    potters,    etc."  '^      The 
emigrants  were  advised  to  bring  with  them  tools  and 
machinery,  or  designs  of  machinery,  textile  and  otlnr- 
wise,  that  they  might  set  up  their  several  crafis  in 
the  Valley.     From   time  to  time  President  Youii« 
announced  the  industries  m<is»,  needed  in  the  coni- 
mnnwoalth  beyond  the  Rockies,  e.g.   "We   want    a 
company   (»f   woollen  manvUacturers    to  come  with 


Ak' 


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THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


187 


machinery,  and  take  our  wool  from  the  sheep,  and 
convert  it  into  the  be.t  clothes,  and  the  wool  is  ready. 
We  want  a  company  of  cotton  manufacturers,  who 
will  convert  cotton  into  cloth  and  calico,  etc.,  and 
we  will  raise  the  cotton  before  the  machinery  can  be 
ready.  We  want  a  company  f)f  potters ;  we  need 
them.  The  clay  is  ready  and  the  dishes  wanted. 
Send  a  company  of  each,  if  possible,  next  spring. 
Silk  manufacturers  and  all  others  will  follow  in  rapid 
succession.  We  want  some  men  to  start  a  furnace 
forthwith;  the  coal,  iron  and  moulders  are  waiting. 
We  have  a  printing  press,  and  any  who  can  take  good 
printing  and  writing  naper  to  the  \  alley  will  be  bless- 
ing themselves  and  the  Church,"  '^ 

Under  this  systematic  propagantla,  emigrants  were 
arriving  at  the  rate  of  two  and  (hr(>"  thousand  a  year, 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  narrow  strip  of  irrigable 
land  between  the  mesa  and  the  lake  could  not 
sustain  the  growing  community.  Steps  were  taken 
to  enlarge  the  borders,  and  exploring  parties  were 
sent  out  to  find  new  locations.  Wherever  soil  and 
water  supply  were  adetiuate  for  agriculture,  where 
there  was  water-power  suitea  for  milling  jiurposes  or 
mineral  resources  to  be  developed,  "stakes"  were 
planted.  Companies  of  colonists  were  organized 
I'-der  trusted  leaders  and  ecjuipped  with  provisions 
and  the  implements  and  materials  necessary  to  the 
nrosecution  of  their  industrial  mission.  Webor  \'ailey 
to  the  north  and  Utah  Valley  to  the  south  held  bettiT 
promise  for  the  farmer  than  the  shores  of  Salt  Lake, 
and  here  a  series  of  settlements  was  made.  !•  art  her 
>-|»uth  in  the  arid  San  Pete  Valley,  mountain  streams 


4"; 

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188 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


were  found  sufficient  to  maintain  Nephi,  Juab,  and 
Manti  stakes  along  the  Spanish  Trail.    Cedar  City 


Stakes  planted  in  Zion,  1847-1877. 

was  founded,  two  hundred  and  seventy  miles  south 
of  Salt  Lake,  for  the  working  of  tlie  iron  and  coal 
deposits  discovered  there.  A  smelter  was  erected 
which  produced  a  ton  of  metal  per  day,  and  tive 
hundred  acres  were  planted  to  wheat  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  miners.  In  every  case  the  site  of  the 
settlement  and  its  leader  were  approved  hy  President 
Young,  and  careful  provision  was  made  that  ade- 
quate supplies  of  tools,  seeds,  and  live  stock  were  in 
the  outfit  and  that  each  company  included  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  artisans. 

When  in  1850  the  State  of  Deseret  became  the 
Territory  of  Utah,  there  were  eleven  thousand  peopt" 
in  the  Valley,  sixteen  thousand  acres  of  land  were 
under  cultivation,  and  the  taxable  property  of  the 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


189 


colony  amounted  to  $1,000,000.  During  the  next 
six  years,  in  spite  of  the  grasshopper  plague  and  other 
discouraging  circumstances,  the  colony  doubled  these 
figures. 

In  the  first  days  at  Salt  Lake,  Brigham  Young  had 
said,  "Now  if  they  will  let  us  alone  for  ten  years,  I'll 
ask  no  odds  of  them."  "    The  tenth  anniversary  of 
the  settl--    ..t  brought  the  Mormon  commonwealth 
to  a  trial  of  strength  with  the  Federal  authorities. 
Controversies  with  the  "gold-seekers"  over  payment 
for  supplies,  claims  to  strayed  cattle,  damages  for 
trespassing,  etc.,  had  embittered  the  relations  be- 
tween Mormon  and  Gentile.i^    The  officials  sent  out 
from  Washington  were  mere  place-hunters,  neither 
tactful  nor  wise  nor,  in  all  cases,  upright,   but  the 
scandal  of  polygamy  had  shocked  the  moral  sense  of 
the  nation.     Rrprcscntations  forwarded  to  President 
Buchanan  to  the  effect  that  United  States  authority 
was  defied  by  the  Mormons,  induced  him  to  order 
troops  to  Utah  for  the  purpose  of  overawing  the  mal- 
contents and  inaugurating  the  first  Gentile  administra- 
1  ion  in  the  person  of  Governor  Cummings.     Six  thou- 
sniul  troops  were  detailed  for  tliis  service,  and   the 
commissariat  exceedc-l  in  quantity  and  cost  any  that 
had  ever  ocen  sent  into  the  West.     Two  thousand 
I)orf  cattle,  as  many  horses  and  mules,  and  a  long 
train  of  wagons  wore  provided,  with  a  view  to  -.n  in- 
definite sojourn  in  the  v  ildeiness.     The  fraud  and 
peculation  practised  on  the  government  by  the  pur- 
veyors gave  to  this  expedition  the  nickname,  "the 
cm  factors-   war.^'     No   negotiations   had  preceded 
this  extraordinary  militaty  demonstration,  and  the 


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190 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Saints  were  quite  in  the  dark  as  to  its  mission ;  but 
the  people  were  as  one  man  in  their  determination  to 
resist  armed  invasion.  The  Mormon  militia  num- 
bered only  one  thousand  insufficiently  armed  men, 


w!Lkau  t'mf.  €•..  N.t. 

Waqon  Routes  aciioss  the  Wasatci   Ranob,  ISSS-lSfi"*. 

but  defence  of  their  mountain  stronghold  was  not 
ditficuit.  A  force  W-.s  deputed  to  barricade  Echo 
Caiion,  a  narrow  defile  with  precipitous  walls  several 


s 
« 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


191 


hundred  feet  in  height  and  the  only  direct  access  to 
the  Valley  from  the  east,  and  another  was  sent  for- 
ward to  intercept  the  provision  trains  and  otherwise 
embarrass  the  advancing  army.  Lot  Smith  and  his 
men  succeeded  in  burning  two  wagon  trains  and  in 
cutting  out  hundreds  of  oxen  which  were  driven  off 
to  the  Valley,  while  they  fired  the  plains  in  the  path 
of  the  troops  and  destroyed  Fort  Bridger,  the  first 
objective  point.'«  So  ingeniously  did  the  Mormons 
make  their  country  and  climate  fight  for  them,  that 
Coneral  Johnson,  seeing  his  army  deprived  of  food 
and  shelter  and  means  of  transportation  (for  the 
starved  animals  were  dying  by  hundreds)  and  over- 
taken by  furious  snow-storms,  was  forced  to  abandon 
hope  of  reaching  Salt  Lake  before  spring.  He  made 
the  best  of  a  desperate  situation  by  establishing 
winter  quarters  on  Black  Fork,  one  hundred  and  fif- 
teen miles  from  Salt  Lake  City. 

Meantime  Governor  Cummings  had  been  induced 
to  visit  the  city  and  treat  with  the  Mormon  officials, 
and  a  truce  was  agreed  upon.  The  army  was  to 
enter  the  \'alley,  but  on  the  understanding  that  pri- 
vate property  was  not  to  be  molested  and  that  the 
encampment  was  to  be  forty  miles  distant  from  any 
Mormon  settlement. 

^\^len,  however,  General  Johnson  and  Governor 
Cummings  rode  into  Salt  Lake  City  at  the  hea.l  of 
the  United  States  troops,  they  found  the  place  de- 
serted. The  inhabitants  had  moved  to  the  south,  to 
the  settlements  in  Utah  Valley  and  beyond,  leaving 
o.'ily  a  few  watchmen  who  were  imder  orders  to  set 
fire  to  the  houses,  workshops,  and  granaries  in  case 
any  iiostile  demonstraticni  was  made  by  the  nmch 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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distrusted  commander.  Evidently  Brigham  Young 
and  his  people  were  prepaied  for  another  trek  into  the 
wilderness  rather  than  submit  to  military  rule.  Not 
until  the  army  was  encamped  in  Cedar  Valley  (Camp 
Floyd)  did  the  devoted  Saints  return  to  their  homes. 
In  the  end,  the  presence  of  the  army  proved  a  ma- 
terial blessing,  since  the  demand  for  grain,  cattle,  and 
labor  was  enormously  increased.  During  the  two 
years  of  its  sojourn  in  Utah,  the  Mormon  farmers 
enjoyed  a  good  market  at  high  prices,  and  many  an 
impoverished  emigrant  got  work  at  the  Fort  at  wages 
hitherto  unknown  in  the  Valley.  When  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War,  the  troops  were  withdrawn, 
great  quantities  of  military  supplies  were  sold  for  a 
song  or  abandoned.  Goods  valued  at  $4,000,000 
were  sold  for  $100,000. 

Because  of  their  peculiar  social  and  industrial 
order,  the  Mormon  settlements  have  been  misrep- 
resented to  an  extraordinary  degree.  Most  of  the 
first-hand  authorities  are  either  Mormon  or  anti- 
Mormon,  and  in  neither  case  can  the  record  be 
re  d  upon.  The  recounting  of  the  simplest  facts 
is  likely  to  be  colored  by  prejudice  —  even  distorted 
beyond  recognition.  Fortunately  for  the  impartial 
historian,  however,  the  commonwealth  was  visited 
during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence  by  several 
travellers  whose  fair-mindedness  and  powers  of  ob- 
servation can  hardly  be  called  in  question.  A 
summary  of  their  conclusions  seems  essential  to  an 
unbiased  estimate  of  the  economic  results  of  the 
Mormon  migration. 

A  "forty-niner"  described  Salt  Lake  City  thus: 


lit 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


193 


"The  houses  are  small,  principally  of  brick,  built 
up  only  as  temporary  abodes,  until  the  more  urgent 
and  important  matter  of  enclosure  and  cultivation 
are  attended  to ;   but  I  never  saw  anything  to  sur- 
pass the  ingenuity  of  arrangement  with  which  they 
are  fitted  up,  and  the  scrupulous  cleanliness  with 
which  they  are  kept.     There  were  tradesmen  and 
artisans  of  all  descriptions,  but  no  regular  stores,  or 
workshops,  except  forges.     Still,  from  the  shoeing  of 
a  wagon  to  the  mending  of  a  watch,  there  was  no 
difficulty  experienced  in  getting  it  done,  as  cheap 
and  as  well  put  out  of  hand  as  in  any  other  city  in 
America.     Notwithstanding  the  oppressive  tempera- 
ture, they  were  all  hard  at  work  at   their  trades, 
and  abroad  in  the  fields  weeding,  moulding,  and  irri- 
gating;   and  it  certainly  speaks  volumes  fr-  their 
energy  and  industry,  tr  see  the  quantity  ^t  land 
they  have  fenced  in,  and  the  breadth  under  culti- 
vation. .  .  ,     There  was  ample  promise  of  an  abun- 
dant harvest,  in  magnificent  crops  of  wheat,  maize, 
potatoes,  and  every  description  of  garden  vef -^table, 
all  of  which  require  irrigation,  as  there  is  little  or 
no  rain  in  this  region,  a  Salt  Lake  shower  being 
estimated    at    a    drop    to    each    inhabitant.     They 
have  numerous  herds  of  the  finest  cattle,  droves  of 
excellent  sheep,  with  horses  and  mules  enough  and 
to  spare,  but  very  few  pigs,  persons  having  them 
being  obliged  to  keep  them  chained,  as  the  fences 
are  not  close  enough  to  prevent  them  damaging  the 
crops.     However,    they    have    legions    of    superior 
poultry,   so   that   they   live   in   the  most   plentiful 
manner   possible.     We   exchanged    and    purchased 


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194  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

some  mules  and  horses  on  very  favorable  terms, 
knowing  we  would  stand  in  need  of  strong  teams 
in  crossing  the  Sierra  Nevada."  " 

Captain  Howard  Stansbury  of  the  United  States 
Topographical  Survey  was  sent  to  Utah  in  1849  to 
explore  Salt  Lake  and  its  immediate  environs.     It 
was  a  difficult  task  because  of  the  desolate  character 
of  the  "Great  Briny  Shallow,"  whose  periphery  of 
mud   flats,    twenty    miles    back    from    the   shores, 
afforded  neither  wood  nor  water  nor  game  sufficient 
to  maintain  an  exploring  expedition.     Success  de- 
pended   upon    the    interested    cooperation    of    the 
white  settlers  of  the  valley.     The  first    Mormons 
were   encountered    at    Brown's   settlement   on   the 
Weber,  "an  extensive  assemblage  of  log  buildings, 
picketed,  stockaded,  and  surrounded  by  out-buildings 
and  cattle  yards,  the  whole  affording  evidence  of 
comfort  and  abundance  far  greater  than  I  had  ex- 
pected to  see  in  so  new  a  settlement."  ''     Here  the 
party  met  with  a  surly  reception  and  were  even 
refused  food  and  shelter.     The  unexpected  rebuff 
was  later  explained  by  the  fact  that  Brown  doubted 
if    the  United   States  government  would  recognize 
the  validity  of  his  Spanish  title  and  lived  in  dread 
of   the    appearance   of    land    office    agents.     When 
Stansbury  had  opportunity  to  state  the  purpose  of 
his  expedition  to  Brigham  Young,  he  was   assured 
of  all  the  aid  the  struggling  community  was  able  t.. 
give.     Stansbury's    was    the    first    party    of    whit(> 
men  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  lake  by  land,  and 
he  attributed  this  achievement  in  good  part  to  the 
help  and  comfort  freely  rendered  him  by  the  Uoi- 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


195 


mons.     The  winter  of  1849-1850  was  spent  in  the 
city  of  the  Saints,  and  his  relations  with  the  officials 
were  such  as  to  give  him  abundant  opportunity  to 
observe    the    unique    economy    of    the    new    Zion. 
Houses  were  scarce,  and  many  of  the  people  were 
still  Uving  in  wagon  beds ;    but  food  was  abundant, 
and    considera))le    enterprises    such    as    mills    and 
bridges  and  toll  roads  were  well  under  way.     Stans- 
bury   credits   the   Mormon   brethren   with   a   high 
standard  of    commercial  morality,  stating  that   in 
no  instance  had  fraud  or  extortion  been  practised 
upon    his    party.     Prices    for    farm    produce    were 
moderate  and   quality   good.     The  not  infrequent 
difficulties  between  the  settlers  and  the  gold-seekers 
were  generally,  in  his  opinion,  occasioned  by  disregard 
of  property  rights  and  of  municipal  regulations  on 
the  part  of   the  lawless   element  in   the  emigrant 
trains.     The  offenders  who  were  arrested  and  fined, 
or  even,  in  default  of  payment,  forced  to  labor  in 
the  public  works  by  the  church  authorities,  vigor- 
ously   protested    this    alien    jurisdiction.     Brigham 
Young,  Stansbury  describes  as  a  man  of  keen  good 
sense,  fully  alive  to  the  responsibilities  of  his  station 
and  indefatigable  in  devising  ways  and  means  for 
the   moral,  mental,  and    physical   uplifting   of   his 
people.     The   almost   universal   prosperity   of    this 
farming  community,  only  two  years  remove  from 
the  sage-brush,  Stansbury  attributed  to  (1)  the  high 
degree  of  industry  and  intelligence  observable  in  the 
settlers,   precisely   the    most   vigorous    and    enter- 
prising of  the  denizens  nf  the  British  TsIps,  (2)  the 
prudence  and  sagacity  of  the  leaders  whose  arrange- 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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merits  for  the  journey  tv.  Salt  Lake  City  and  for  the 
industrial  welfare  of  its  people  were  most  business- 
like, (3)  the  discipline  of  the  rank  and  file  who 
rendered  imphcit  obedience  to  their  ecclesiastical 
superiors,  (4)  the  spirit  of  cooperation,  —  of  indi- 
vidual contribution  to  the  common  good,  which  was 
the  fundamental  principle  of  this  extraordinary 
society.  Every  man  paid  tithes  of  produce  and  of 
labor  to  the  church  officials,  in  addition  to  the  taxes 
levied  by  the  civil  government.  Notwithstanding 
this  double  burden,  every  one  was  prosperous. 
There  were  literally  no  paupers.  A  proposal  to 
establish  a  poorhouse  had  been  abandoned  because 
of  the  evident  lack  of  patronage.  Some  part  of 
this  happy  exemption  was  due  to  the  systematic  aid 
given  by  the  church  to  newly  arrived  emigrants, 
some  part,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  intoxicating 
liquors  were  scarce  and  dear.  Whiskey  retailed  at 
^8  per  gallon  and  brandy  at  $12,  because  of  the 
heavy  duty  (fifty  per  cent)  on  the  imported  article. 
On  his  return  trip  through  Echo  Canon  Stans- 
bury  met  a  Mormon  caravan  of  ninety-five  wagons, 
each  furnished  with  from  three  to  five  yoke  of  oxen, 
all  in  fine  condition.  "The  wagons  swarmed  with 
women  and  children,"  and  poultry  coops  were 
swunii  on  bohiinl.  "I  estimated  the  trai.i  at  one 
thousand  head  <>f  cattle,  one  hundred  head  of  sheep, 
ard  five  hundrod  human  souls."  "  A  little  later,  on 
trie  upper  Flatte  (September,  1850),  Stansbury  reports 
'j'rovd^'  of  emigrant-wagons,  wending  their  way  to 
the  Mormon  Valley,  with  droves  of  cattle  and  sheep, 
whose  fat  and  thriviug  condition,  after  so  long  a 


1 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


197 


journey,   was  the  subject  of  general  i-mr,rk,   and 
excited  universal  admiration."  ^ 

To  Lieutenant  Ckuinison,  his  very  efficient  second 
in  command,  Stansbury  deputed  tne  study  of  the 
religious  and  social  features  of  the  Mormon  state, 
and  to  his  treatise.  The  Mormons  or  Latter  Day 
Saints  in  the  Valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,''  the 
reader  is  referred  as  a  conscientious  endeavor  to  see 
and  tell  the  exact  truth  in  regard  to  many  c  tro- 
verted  points.  Gunnison  advised  the  let-alone  policy 
(the  policy  later  urged  by  .Vbraham  Lincoln)  as  the 
method  by  which  the  infant  commonwealth  n-ould 
most  surely  slough  off  its  errors  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice. He  believed  that  the  strength  of  the  theoc- 
racy was  enhanced  by  persecution.  With  peace, 
prosperity,  and  education,  its  power  would  inevi- 
tably disintegrate. 

Five  years  after  the  Stansbury  party  left  the  State 
of  Deseret,  the  Valley  was  visited  by  Jules  Remy, 
a  French   naturalist,    who,    being   something   of   a 
philosopher    as    well,    ventured    the    voyage    frc»m 
Honolulu  and  the  journey  across  the  desert  for  the 
sake  of  observing  with  his  own  eyes  this  extraordi- 
nary development  of  religious  fanaticism.     To  the 
Frenchman,  "Joseph  Smith  was  a  cheat  and  an  im- 
postor" and  "Mormonism  was  the  coarsest  form  of 
Mysticism";   but  he  was  forced  to  concede  the  ex- 
traordinary success   of   this   new   industrial   order. 
Here  was  a  community  of  sixty  thousand  people 
representing  fifteen  different  nationalities  —  Britons, 
Canadians,  Americans,   Scandinavians,  Germans  — 
'•  y  no  means  the  most  temperate  or  least  quarrel- 


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198 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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some  of  races;  but  Remy  was  struck  with  the 
"order,  the  tranquillity  and  industry"  of  the  inhabit- 
ants and  the  cleanliness  and  comfort  of  their 
dwelUngs.22  "Neither  grog  shops,  gaming-houses, 
nor  brothels  are  to  be  met  with."  While  the  Mor- 
mons did  not  abstain  from  the  temperate  use  of 
liquors  (whiskey  distilled  from  wheat  or  potatoes, 
and  beer  brewed  from  the  hops  grown  in  the  Valley), 
there  was  no  drunkenness.  He  was  struck,  too, 
with  the  marvellous  activity  of  the  seven-year-old 
city,  not  only  in  the  Temple  Block,  where  "emigrants 
who  have  newly  arrived,  as  well  as  residents  who 
are  without  employment  apply  for  work,"  but  in 
the  outlying  wards.  "The  whole  of  this  small 
nation  occupy  themselves  as  usefully  as  t'le  workiiifi; 
bees  of  a  hive.  .  .  .  The  idle  or  unemployed  arc 
not  to  be  met  with  here."  "  The  extraordinary  n\a- 
terial  achievements  of  the  modern  Zion  were,  to 
his  mind,  not  the  result  of  communism,  but  of  pa- 
triotism. Each  man  put  forth  his  utmost  effort 
under  the  threefold  necessity  of  preserving  alive 
himself,  his  family,  and  the  commonwealth. 

Brigham  Young,  Remy  thought  a  coarse,  unedu- 
cated man,  but  a  leader  of  remarkable  shrewtliiess 
and  force.  His  ability  was  acknowledgod  even  l»y 
those  Gentiles  who  denounced  Mormonism  a^^  a 
poisonous  gangrene.  The  Cientilcs,  of  whom  tlicrc 
were  not  more  than  one  hundred  in  ilie  city,  were 
aot  the  best  element  of  the  population.  They  wen- 
merchants,  pliysicians,  and  Federal  officer-^,  all  super- 
fluous vocations  from  the  Mormon  point  of  view, 
and  a  motley  collection  of  vagabonds,  "connng  ii'> 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


199 


one  knew  whence,  living  no  one  knew  how,  mostly 
at  the  expense  of  travellers  and  the  Mormons  them- 
selves." ^*  The  Saints  were  not  infrequently  charged 
with  the  crimes  committed  by  these  lawless  char- 
acters, and  while  Remy  recognized,  as  did  his  Mor- 
mon informants,  that  there  were  many  ne'er-do- 
weels  clinging  to  the  skirts  of  the  mountain  state, 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  rank  and  file 
were  "industrious,  honest,  sober,  pious,  and  .  .  . 
even  chaste  in  their  polygamic  relations."  ^ 

It  is  interesting  to  put  alongside  this  French 
estimate  of  the  Mormon  commonwealth  the  obser- 
vations of  two  English  travellers  who  perhaps  better 
understood  a  people  in  whom  the  Teutonic  blood  so 
largely  dominated.  William  Chandless,  though  a  man 
of  education  and  substance,  crossed  the  Plains  with  a 
cattle  train,  serving  as  an  ordinary  teamster,  in  the 
summer  of  1855.  He  had  frequent  opportunity  to 
observe  the  admirable  order  of  the  Mormon  caravans, 
and  attributed  this  to  the  devotion  of  their  leaders. 
The  drivers  of  ordinary  teams  were  p^ii''  iore  than  the 
Mormons  in  the  ratio  of  five  to  thrc  it  they  were  a 
far  inferior  type  of  men.  "It  was  a  pretty  sight  to 
watch  them  [a  Monnon  caravan]  starting  off  for  the 
day's  march  ;  great  numbers  of  women  and  children 
walking  in  advance  gaily,  the  little  ones  picking 
flowers,  the  boys  looking  for  grapes  or  plums  if 
there  were  trees  near,  and  the  mothers  knitting  as 
t'  V  went ;  all  seemed  willing  to  endure  hard^^hip, 
looicing  upon  the  journey  as  a  pilgrimage  to  tlie 
promised  land,  where  they  should  have  rest."  '^ 
After  three  months'  ex|)eileiKe  of  all  types  of  plains- 


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200 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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men,  Chandless  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Mormons  were  as  good  Christians  as  the  others. 
As  a  whole,  they  were  a  "good  plain,  honest  sort  of 
people,  simple-minded,  but  not  fools,  nor  yet  al- 
together uneducated;  an  omnium  gatherum  from 
half-a-dozen  nations,  containing  many  excellent 
artisans  and  some  tradespeople,  along  with  a  large 
number  of  mere  laborers  and  some  few  men  of 
talent  and  cultivation."  ^^  Chandless  thought  Salt 
Lake  Valley  not  a  promising  site  for  a  colony,  but 
unexcelled  as  a  refuge  from  persecution.  The 
settlers  were  thrifty  and  industrious  and  had  ap- 
parently made  the  best  of  their  scanty  opportunities. 
Marvels  had  been  accomplished  in  spite  of  the 
scarcity  of  fuel  and  raw  materials  and  the  double 
burden  of  tithes  and  taxes. 

Richard  F.  Burton,  a  world  traveller,  made  the 
journey  from  St.  Joseph  to  Salt  Lake  more  luxuriously 
in  the  mail  coach  (1859) ;  but  he  saw,  none  the  less, 
much  of  the  Mormon  emigrants.  He,  too,  noted  the 
excellent  discipline  of  their  camps,  and  thought 
that  their  equipment  did  credit  to  the  Perpetual 
Emigration  Fund's  travelling  arrangements.  The 
hand-cart  brigade  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  Many 
of  this  year's  emigrants  had  purchased  their  own 
outfits  at  a  cost  of  $500  per  family.  In  the  earlier 
stages  of  the  route  there  was  no  hardship ;  but  onco 
in  the  mountains,  the  lack  of  food  and  water  began 
to  exhaust  the  strength  of  the  feebler  members  of 
the  party.  On  Ham's  Fork,  Burton's  record  is : 
"We  had  now  fallen  into  the  regular  track  of  Mor- 
mon emigration,  and  saw  the  wayfarers  in  their  wor-i 


mmf 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


201 


plight,  near  the  end  of  the  journey.  We  passed 
several  families,  and  parties  of  women  and  children 
trudging  wearily  along;  most  of  the  children  were 
in  rags  or  half  nude,  and  all  showed  gratitude  when 
we  threw  them  provisions."  ^  Once  in  the  Valley 
and  under  the  care  of  their  co-religio:.ists,  the  emi- 
grants had  every  prospect  of  success.  "Morally 
and  spiritually,  as  well  as  physically,  the  proteg^  of 
the  Perpetual  Emigration  Fund  gain  by  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  Far  West.  Mormonism  is  emphatically 
the  faith  of  the  poor,  and  those  acquainted  with  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  Enghsh  mechanic,  collier, 
and  agricultural  laborer  .  .  .  who,  after  a  life  of 
ignoble  drudgery,  .  .  .  are  ever  threatened  with  the 
work  house,  must  be  of  the  same  opinion.  Physically 
speaking,  there  is  no  comparison  between  the  con- 
ditions of  the  Saints  and  the  class  from  which  they 
are  mostly  taken.  In  point  of  mere  morality,  the 
Mormon  community  is  perhaps  purer  than  any 
other  of  equal  numbers."  "Furthermore,  the  Mor- 
mon settlement  was  a  vast  improvement  upon  its 
contemporaries  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Missouri."  ^9 

Traces  of  the  Utah  War  were  still  evident  in  the 
breastworks  and  barricades  along  Echo  Cafion  and 
in  the  general  uneasiness  of  the  people.  Governor 
C'ummings  seemed  to  Burton  a  man  of  ability  and 
uprightness,  a  finer  type  of  man  than  had  been  pre- 
viously sent  out  by  the  Federal  government ;  but 
lie  had  the  peacemaker's  ungrateful  task.  "The 
scrupulous  and  conscientious  impartiality  which  he 
has  '  "ought  to  the  discharge  of  his  difficult  and 


:| 


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202 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


it  *if^ 


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delicate  duties,  and,  more  still,  his  resolution  to 
treat  the  Saints  like  Gentiles  and  citizens,  not  as 
Digger  Indians  or  felons,  have  won  him  scant  favor 
from  either  party." '"  Brigham  Young  impressed 
him  as  rude  and  uncouth,  but  sincere.  "Of  his 
temperance  and  sobriety  there  is  but  one  opinion. 
His  life  is  ascetic."  He  was  accustomed  to  lecture 
his  people  on  their  sins  with  a  plainness  of  speech 
and  an  energy  of  invective  that  were  Cromwellian. 
An  extract  from  a  sermon  printed  in  the  Mormon 
Expositor  is  cited:  "That  man  that  sells  liquor  and 
believes  that  he  must,  I  will  promise  him  damna- 
tion for  it.  That  man  that  makes  liquor  and  gives 
it  to  his  neighbor,  he  shall  have  his  reward  in  Hell." 
Captain  Simpson  of  the  United  States  Topo- 
graphical Survey,  who  passed  through  Salt  Lake 
and  Utah  valleys  in  1859  and  1860,  reports  on  the 
character  of  the  outlying  settlements.  The  toll 
roads  were  excellent  and  the  bridges  adequate,  but 
he  thought  the  adobe  villages  with  their  decaying 
earthworks  slovenly  and  thriftless.  "The  generality 
of  the  houses  is  far  below  in  character  what  obtains 
among  the  poorest  of  our  population  in  the  States. 
The  roofs  are  generally  of  mud,  and  give  frequent 
evidences  of  tumbling  in ;  and  the  doors  and  win- 
dows all  indicate  penury  and  an  inattention  to 
cleanliness."  These  villages  "are  all  inhabited  by 
farmers,  who  cultivate  the  land  contiguous  to  tlu^ 
town,  and  the  yards  are  filled  with  the  implements 
of  husbandry,  stacks  of  wheat  and  hay ;  and  in  tlie 
evening,  during  har\  '  there  is  to  be  seen  a  con- 
stant succession  of  wagons,  filled  with  the   produce 


AdoUK    HolHK    WITH   THATrHED    HuOK    ANU    WaTTLEU    FeNCK. 


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A    MllHMoN    11(11  SK.    AT    I'unVK,    I  TM 


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THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


203 


of  the  field,  and  cattle  driven  in  for  security.  The 
inhabitants  send  out  their  cattle  in  herds  to  pasture, 
the  herdsman  passing  in  the  morning  from  one  end 
of  the  town  to  the  other,  and  as  he  does  so,  sound- 
ing his  hom  as  a  signal  for  the  owners  to  turn  their 
stock  into  the  general  herd.  The  charge  is  about 
two  cents  per  animal  per  day."  "  The  Mormons 
were  planting  colonies  in  the  remote  mountain 
valleys  where  rich  meadowland  furnished  excellent 
pasturage  and  hay  for  winter  feed.  In  Round 
Prairie  at  the  head  of  Provo  Canon,  a  little  settle- 
ment of  ten  families  sprang  up  between  Captain 
Simpson's  first  and  cecond  traverse  of  the  mountains. 
Garland  Hurt,  Indian  agent  for  the  Territory, 
furnished  Simpson  with  a  table  of  "Population  and 
Industries"  from  which  it  appears  that  there  were 
at  that  time  in  Utah  twenty-eight  "stakes"  and 
a  population  of  forty-two  thousand  eight  hundred. 
Salt  Lake  City  was  estimated  to  have  a  popula- 
tion of  eight  thousand,  Provo  four  thousand,  Cedar 
City,  Og'on,  Springville,  and  Spanish  Fork,  two 
thousand  each.  The  cultivated  area  (43,400  acres) 
was  a  little  more  than  an  acre  per  capita  of  the 
population,  and  the  twenty-eight  towns  had  built 
twenty-seven  flour  mills  and  eighteen  sawmills. 

The  Mormons  in  California 

The  original  destination  of  the  Mormon  hegira 
was  quite  indefinite.  Somewhere  beyond  tlie  moun- 
tains that  bounded  the  territory  of  the  United 
Slates,  in  the  region  desciibtni  by  the  fur  traders 
and  latterly  by  Fremont,  the  explorer,  there  must 


i  > 


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204 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


be  a  land  where  a  new  and  free  commonwealth  could 
be  built.  California  was  already  a  name  to  conjure 
with,  and  especially  Upper  California, — a  term  then 
used  to  include  everything  north  of  Sonora  and 
west  of  the  Rockies.  The  Latter  Day  Saints  were 
accustomed  to  sing:  — 

"  The  Upper  California,  oh,  that's  the  land  for  me. 
It  lies  between  the  mountains  and  the  great  Pacific  Sea!" 

So  while  Brigham  Young  was  organizing  the  trek 
from  Nauvoo,  Samuel  Brannan,  the  leader  of  the 
Saints  in  the  East,  was  preparing  to  lead  his  flock  to 
California  by  sea.  In  February,  1846,  the  Brooklyn 
sailed  from  New  York  with  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  emigrants  on  board  and  an  ample  stock  of  farm 
implements,  seeds,  etc.,  and  machinery  for  saw-  and 
grist-mills.  They  had  reason  to  believe  that  their 
prospects  of  success  were  better  than  those  of  the 
overland  contingent,  for  it  was  understood  that  Presi- 
dent Polk  favored  the  enterprise  as  a  means  of 
Americanizing  the  coveted  territory.  On  the  out- 
break of  the  Mexican  War,  the  president  called  upon 
the  Mormons  on  the  Missouri  to  furnish  a  battalion. 
The  call  came  at  a  time  (August,  1846)  when  every 
able-bodied  man  was  needed  for  the  march  across 
the  Plains ;  but  it  was  deemed  all-important  to  give 
the  government  this  proof  of  loyalty,  and  five  hun- 
dred men  were  sent,  without  protest,  to  join  General 
Kearney's  command.  The  Mormon  Battalion  served 
under  Colonel  Cooke,  who  was  deputed  to  open  ;i 
wagon  road  from  Sun  la  Fe  to  the  Pacific,  and  he 
paid  a  high  tribute  to  the  morale  of  the  men.     "  Mucii 


THE  MORMON  MIGRATION 


205 


credit  is  due  to  the  battalion  for  the  cheerful  and 
faithful  manner  in  which  they  have  accomplished 
the  great  labors  of  this  march,  and  submitted  to  its 
exposures  and  privations,"  '^  and  his  words  were 
reenforced  by  General  Mason,  who  would  have  been 
glad  to  reenlist  them.  Once  arrived  in  San  Diego, 
however,  finding  the  war  at  an  end,  the  Saints  were 
eager  to  rejoin  their  families.  Each  man  received 
forty  dollars  in  bounty  and  was  allowed  to  retain 
his  uniform  and  firearms.  They  found  a  ready 
market  for  labor  in  California,  and  thus  when,  in 
small  parties  and  by  different  routes,  they  made 
their  way  back  to  the  colony  at  Salt  Lake,  they 
were  none  the  worse  for  their  brief  military  experi- 
ence, and  had  accumulated  some  welcome  cash." 

Meantime,  the  Brooklyn  was  voyaging  round  the 
Horn  and,  at  the  end  of  six  months,  arrived  in  the 
harbor  of  San  Francisco  to  find,  to  Brannan's  amaze- 
ment and  dismay,  the  United  States  flag  floating 
over  Verba  Buena.  Brannan  speedily  adjusted 
himself  to  the  situation,  apostatized,  and  entered 
into  some  profitable  business  enterprises.  Others 
secured  employment  with  Captain  Sutter  and  were 
working  on  the  mill-race  at  Coloma  when  the  first 
gold  was  discovered  there.  Tradition  has  it  that 
some  of  these  men  went  back  across  the  mountains 
to  Salt  Lake  City,  driving  donkeys  loaded  with  gold 
dust.  Certain  it  is  that  the  first  coins  authorized 
by  the  State  of  Deseret  were  struck  from  California 
gold,  ninety-four  thousand  ounces  of  which  were 
turned  into  the  treasury  of  the  church. 

The  gold  fever  was  steadily  discouraged  by  the 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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apostles  at  Salt  Lake,  for  they  feared  it  would  de- 
moralize the  colony.  Brigham  Young  said  in  his 
trenchant  way,  "If  we  were  to  go  to  San  Francisco 
and  dig  up  chunks  of  gold,  it  would  ruin  us,"  and 
he  succeeded  in  persuading  his  people  that  there 
was  more  certain  wealth  in  the  sage-brush  mesas  of 
the  Valley.  The  commercial  opportunities  afforded 
by  the  gold  craze  were,  however,  utilized  to  the  full. 
Cattle  were  driven  to  the  Coast,  and  the  returning 
mule  trains  brought  potatoes  and  grain  and  other 
needed  supplies.  A  stake  was  planted  at  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Sierras  (Genoa,  Nevada)  as  a 
halfway  station  for  the  muleteers. 

The  agricultural  possibilities  of  California  were 
not  ignored  by  the  long-headed  business  men  at  the 
helm  of  this  great  colonizing  enterprise.  It  was 
hoped  that  a  less  diflficult  route  than  the  overland 
trail  might  be  developed;  viz.  across  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  by  ship  to  San  Diego,  and  thence  via 
Las  Vegas  and  the  Sevier  River  to  Salt  and  Utah 
lakes.  A  large  emigration  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  wagons  was  sent  over  the  Spanish  Trail  to 
found  the  settlement  of  San  Bernardino  just  below 
Cajon  Pass,  and  the  towns  of  Provo,  Springville, 
Paysan,  and  Manti  were  founded  as  depots  of  sup- 
plies. Laguna  Beach  was  the  receiving  station  at 
San  Diego. 


J* 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA 
Section  I 
Traders  and  Trappers 

Arguello's  hospitality  to  trading  vessels  from 
Boston  opened  up  trade  relations  between  California 
and  the  United  States  and  led  to  the  domiciling 
of  various  American  citizens  in  this  outlying 
province  of  Mexico.  The  first  American  settlers 
were  merchants,  such  as  Gale  and  Cooper  of  Mon- 
terey, Abel  Stearns  of  Los  Angeles,  W.  G.  Dana 
and  Alfred  Robinson  of  Santa  Barbara,  Nathan 
Spear,  William  H.  Davis  and  Captain  Hinckley  of 
Yerba  Buena.  They  readily  ingratiated  themselves 
with  the  CaUfornians  by  becoming  naturalized, 
adopting  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  marry- 
ing hijas  del  pais.  Their  superior  business  ability 
soon  secured  them  wealth  and  influence.  Less 
known,  but  no  less  influential  in  the  Americanization 
of  California,  were  the  sailors  and  mechanics  who, 
year  by  year,  deserted  the  whalers  and  the  hide 
ships  and  found  refuge  with  the  hospitable  natives. 
They  had  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  themselves  in 
a  country  where  skilled  labor  was  so  scarce. 

i^Vnother  current  of  American  influence  was  fur- 
nished by  the  hunting  parties  that  made  their  way 
over  the  Sierras  to  the  beaver  streams  along  their 

207 


:l> 


!    » 


•'It 


I.     I 


i' 


I  '    Ml 

'•  •)  ■  ■  j    if 


lift 


I'! 


208 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


;i: 


western   slopes.     Tradition   has   it   that,   in    1822, 
Arguello  sent  an  expedition  up  the  Sacramento  to 
the  foothills  of  the  Sierras  to  ascertain  the  truth  of 
a  report  brought  in  by  the  Indians  that  a  number 
of  white  men  clad  in  leather  and  carrying  long  guns 
were  in  hiding  there.    Whatever  the  foundation  of 
the  rumor,  his  troopers  failed  to  find  the  invaders. 
Four  years  later,  Jedidiah  Smiih  crossed  the  Mohave 
Desert   to   San  Gabriel  Mission  and  trapped   the 
length    of    the    San    Joaquin    Valley.     Repeating 
the  daring  adve^^ture  in  1827,  he  was  forced  by 
the  suspicious  authorities  of  Monterey  to  leave  the 
country.    The  luckless  Patties  crossed  the  Colorado 
Desert  to  San  Diego  in  1829,  and  were  sentenced  to 
solitary  confinement  for  their  pains.     The  son  was 
offered  five  hundred  cattle  and  as  many  horses,  with 
land  sufficient  to  maintain  them,  if  he  would  settle 
in  the  country,  become  a  Catholic  and  a  Mexican 
citizen;    but  he  indignantly  refused  and  returned 
home  to  report  the  wealth  and  defencelessness  of 
California.    A  little  later  W.  A.  Walker  crossed  the 
Great  American  Desert  and  the  Sierras  to  Monterey, 
and,  getting  off  without  molestation,  brought  back 
an  enthusiastic  account  of  the  chances  for  trader  and 
trapper. 

These  daring  experiments  attracted  imitators. 
Smith's  heavy  catch  of  furs  revealed  to  Dr.  McLough- 
lin  the  rich  possibilities  of  the  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin  valleys  and  opened  the  way  for  the  exploi- 
tation of  the  district  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
In  the  autumn  of  1828,  McLeod  was  sent  south 
along    Smith's   trau  for    that   season's    hunt.     He 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        209 


vol,.  II  —  p  HrnaoN's  Bay  ^ov    vvY"  Tkail, 


Sv'tltxMM  Bag-'  ^-  '"•''"' 


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210 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


trapped  the  mountain  streams  with  excellent  success 
and  was  returning  to  Fort  Vancouver  with  pack- 
horses  loaded  with  beaver  and  land-otter  skins  when 
he  was  caught  in  the  ascent  of  Pitt  River  by  an  un- 
expected fall  of  snow  and  obliged  to  cache  his  furs 
and  hurry  on  in  order  to  save  his  men  and  animals. 
McLeod  was  severely  censured  for  this  misfortune, 
and  the  following  year  the  California  district  was 
intrusted  to  McKay.     He  ventured  even  to  the  Bay 
of  San  Francisco  and  took  four  thousand  beaver  along 
its  reedy  shores ;  but  the  fur  was  inferior  in  quality 
to  that  of  the  mountain  beaver  and  brought  only 
$2  a  pound      The  next  season,  Peter  Skeene  Ogden 
was  transfen-'jd  to  this  field,  and  under  his  ener- 
getic management,  the  Great  Valley  was  thoroughly 
explored  and  developed.     For  ton  years  (1829-1838), 
a  Hudson's  Bay  Company  brigade  made  its  annual 
traverse,   south   in   the  autunui   and   north   in   the 
spring,  between  Fort  Vancouver  and  French  Camp,  — 
the  post  on  the  San  Joaquin.     The  cavalcade  was  a 
picturesque  one,  formed  in  Indian  file  and  led  by 
the  chief  trader.     "Next  him  rode  his  wife,  a  native 
woman,  astride  —  as  is  common  with  the  females  — 
upon  her  pony,  quite  picturesquely  clad.  .  .  .     Next. 
the  clerk  and  his  wife,  much  in  the  same  manner ; 
and  so  on  to  the  officers  of  less  importance,  and  the 
men ;   and  finally  the  boys,  driving  the  pack  horses, 
with  bales  of  fur  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  to 
each   animal.     The  trampling  of  the   fa.st-walking 
horses,  the  silvery  tinkling  of  the  small  bells,  rich, 
handsome    dresses,    and    fine    appearance    of    the 
riders,  whose  number  amounted  to  sixty  or  seventy" 


flik* 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        211 

made  a  really  patriarchal  array.'  Smith's  trace  soon 
became  a  well-beaten  road  some  five  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  length,  but  since  four-fifths  of  it  ran 
along  the  levels  of  the  Willamette  and  Sacramento 
valleys,  the  journey  was  usually  made  in  thirty-one 
da:  8' 

American  trappers  were  not  slow  to  avail  them- 
selves of    the    new  hunting  grounds    revealed  by 
Smith,  Pattie,  and  Walker,  and  year  by  year  larger 
parties  appeared   in   the  Great  Valley.     They   no 
longer  attempted  to  pack  their  furs  over  the  moun- 
tains, but  sold  them  to  traders  at  the  coast  ports, 
and  the  traffic  grew  to  considerable  proportions  — 
from  $15,G00  to  $20,000  a  year.^     Every  trapping 
party   was   required   to    have   a  license,   and    tho 
fees  brought  in  a  tidy   revenue,   highly   gratifying 
to  the  officials;  but  the  interlopers  were  for  the 
most  part  a  vagabond   crew  —  frontiersmen   from 
Kentucky,    Tennessee,    and    Missouri  —  and    their 
influence  on  the  Indians  was  demoralizing.     Some 
of  the  Americanc  found  horses  and  mules  a  more 
profitable   game   than   beaver,   and   they   had    the 
cooperation  of  the  natives,  who  were  only  too  ready 
to  pay  off  old  scores  by  stealing  live  stock  from  the 
missions  or  from  the  ranrheros.     Thus  there  gathered 
m  the   interior   valleys,  lawless  companies  Of  men 
who  made  no  pretence  of  naturalization,  practised 
no  useful  vocation,  and  cherished  both  hatre.l  and 
contempt  for  the  pusillanimous  Spanish  rule. 

The  long-sought  route  between  r'alifornia  and 
Santa  V6  wa.s  opened  by  Ar.>eri;»uns.  In  182!) 
Ewmg  Young  came  across  the  mountains  from  Tat>s, 


k 


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212 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


via  Escallantes'  trail  and  Walker's  Pass,  with  a 
party  of  trappers  —  Mexican  and  Canadian  —  and 
found  Ogden  in  the  Tulares.  Venturing  to  Los 
Angeles,  he  became  involved  in  a  drunken  riot  and 
was  forced  to  flee  the  country.  He  carried  back  to 
New  Mexico,  however,  such  reports  of  the  trade 
possibilities  of  Cahfornia  as  greatly  excited  the  mer- 
chants of  Santa  F6.  Young  returned  in  1830  in  com- 
pany with  William  Wolf  skill  and  J.  J.  Warner, 
bringing  trappers  and  hunters  via  Cajon  Pass  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  sea-otter  along  the  coast 
and  beaver  in  the  interior.  His  license  from  the 
governor  of  New  Mexico  permitted  him  to  take 
nutria,  a  word  which  properly  means  sea-otter,  but 
which  in  Santa  F6  was  used  colloquially  for  beaver. 
This  license  was  received  with  some  demur  by  the 
Californian  authorities ;  but  Young  proceeded  to 
San  Pedro,  where  he  built  some  boats  with  the  aid 
of  an  American  carpenter  out  of  planking  brought 
from  Boston.  The  padre  of  Sr.n  Gabriel  gave  the 
party  passage  on  his  schooner  to  the  Santa  Barbara 
Islands,  and  there  Young  conducted  a  very  success- 
ful hunt,  shooting  the  otter  in  the  surf  and  laying 
in  a  large  store  of  these  valuable  furs.  The  year 
following  he  moved  his  party  to  the  Great  Valley 
and  trapped  along  the  San  Joaquin,  thence  to  Sac- 
ramento, and  thence  across  the  t^oast  Range  ami 
north  to  the  Umpqua  River.  Recrossing  the  moun- 
tains, he  came  down  the  Sacramento,  trappiiiR 
beaver  all  the  way ;  but  on  reaching  Monterey,  his 
rich  catch  was  confiscated  by  Figueroa,  on  the 
ground  that  his  license  did  not  include  beaver.    T\w 


^^mmm^a^^sFzmTK^m. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        213 

resourceful  American  then  purchased  'lorses  from 
the  missions,  intending  to  sell  them  a;  P-t  Van- 
couver. The  difficulties  there  created  by  Figueroa's 
misrepresentations  have  already  been  related. 

Meantime,  convinced  that  fanning  in  California 
was  more  profitable   than  hunting,   Wolfskill  and 
Warner  got  possession  of  land.     The  former  planted 
the  first  commercial  vineyard  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Los  Angeles,  while  the  latter  secured  a  ten-league 
grant  in   the  mountains  back  of  San   Diego  and 
developed   a   famous   cattle   ranch.     Some   of   the 
trappers  had  made  their  way  back  to  Santa  F^  and 
there  reported  that  at  Los  Angeles  they  were  able 
to  trade  their  Navajo  blankets  for  mules,  at  tiie 
rate  of  two  scrapes  for  one  beast.     The  commercial 
opening  was  immediately  seized  upon  by  Jackson 
(of  Smith,  Sublette  ^    Jackson),  and  he   loader'  a 
pack  tram  with  woollen  cloth,  blankets,  and  silver 
dollars,  and  set  out  for  San  Diego  by  the  s<.ut}.orn 
route  (Santa  Rita,  Tucson,  and  the  Pima  village. 
Rio  Colorado,  Temecula,  and  San  Luis  :  ey).     Jack- 
s<'n    purchased    six   hundred   mules   and   ono   hun- 
dred  horses,  of  a  larger  and   stronger   breed   than 
was   grown    in   New   Mexic , ;    J,ut    ihe   Santa   V6 
market  was  easily  overstocked  and  the  sugar  plan- 
tations of  Ix^uisiana,  where  they  would  have  brought 
u  'setter  price,  were  too  remote,  so  the  n>turns  on  this 
venture  were  disappointing.     Other  traders  f„ll„vve(l 
v'P  the  op,K)rtunity,    howeve.-.   and    the  Sanft   16 
caravan  .soon  became  an  annual  event.     The  train 
^t  out  m    OctolK.r    in   advance  of    the    snov.fall 
anu,    crossing    the    Mohave    Desert    in    a    south- 


1     i  (I 


h(' 


^ .,,  i 


luH 


I 


'% 


a**L 


214 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Li  I, 


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M'" 


III' 


;■! 


»i  I! 


ii 


westerly  direction,  forded  the  Colorado  at  Bill 
Williams  Creek,  and  so  by  the  Cajon  Pass  to  San 
Gabriel  and  Los  Angeles.  The  traffic  flourished 
for  a  decade' (1830-1840),  and  many  of  the  mer- 
chants and  muleteers,  Mexicans  and  Americans, 
crossed  with  the  annual  caravan  and,  finding  Cali- 
fornia much  to  their  liking,  elected  to  remain.  Dr. 
John  Marsh,  who  later  founded  a  colony  on  the  San 
Joaquin,  Pope,  who  put  up  the  first  grist-mill  in 
Los  Angeles,  and  Alexander,  who  built  the  first  tan- 
nery, came  in  by  this  route.  A  more  or  less  per- 
functory compliance  with  the  established  form  of 
worship  was  sufficient  to  protect  them  from  inter- 
ference on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  and  the  people 
welcomed  their  ingenuity  and  business  enterprise. 

The  region  north  of  San  Fiuncisco  Bay  was  un- 
touched by  the  Spaniards,  for  they  had  stopped,  where 
Anza  had  been  checked,  at  Estrejo  Carquines ;  but 
the  foreigners  were  not  appalled  by  running  water. 
In  the  Petaluma  and  Napa  valleys  and  beyond  the 
tule  marshes  to  the  east  of  the  Bay,  a  number  of  trap- 
pers had  squatted,  relying  on  the  feebleness  of  the 
government  for  immunity  from  arrest,  and  had  there 
collected  droves  of  cattl"  and  horses. 

In  the  Great  Valley  beyond,  the  resort  of  wiUl 
horses  and  degenerate  Indians,  there  were  two  for- 
eign colonies  that  rivalled  the  mission  establishments 
as  centres  of  civilization.  Dr.  John  Marsh  was  a 
New  Englander  and  a  Harvard  grailuate,  who  num- 
bered among  his  friends  Schoolcraft,  the  scientist, 
and  Governor  Cass.  Dominated  by  that  enthusiasm 
for  the  frontier  which  swayed  so  many  of  his  conteni- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         215 

poraries,  Marsh  tried  his  fortune  at  Detroit,  Fort 
SneUing,  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  St.  Joseph  in  turn.  At 
the  last  post  he  opened  a  general  store  and,  after 
seven  years'  apprenticeship  on  the  Missouri,  joined 
a  trading  expedition  via  Sr,nia  F6,  Chihuahua,  and 
Sonora  to  California.  Here  he  determined  to  establish 
himself  (1835)  and,  finding  no  difficulty  in  negotiat- 
ing a  land  grant  from  the  compliant  Alvarado,  he 
selected  a  tract  near  the  confluence  of  the  San  Joaquin 
and  Sacramento  rivers,  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  Diablo. 
The  soil  was  extraordinarily  fertile  and  the  means  for 
irrigation  at  hand.  Within  a  few  years.  Dr.  xMarsh's 
ranch  showed  orchards  and  vineyards  and  tilled 
fields,  as  well  a.s  a  great  herd  of  cattle.  His  business 
success  together  with  his  acumen  and  knowledge  of 
the  world  gave  him  paramount  influence  with  the 
American  settlers. 

Even  more  successful  and  commanding  was  John  A. 
Sutter,  a  German  Swiss,  who,  failing  in  business  at 
home,  came  to  America  in  pursuit  of  fortune.  He 
had  visited  the  Missouri  frontier,  the  Columbia  River 
settlements,  the  Russian  posts,  and  the  Sandwich 
Islands  before  fate  brought  him  to  San  Francisco 
Bay.  Much  impressed  by  the  resources  of  the  re- 
gion, he  secured  from  Alvarado  a  floating  grant  of 
eleven  square  leagues  (1839)  and  locaterl  it  on 
.'Vmerican  Fork,  thinking  this  tributary  Ic^s  subject 
to  inundation  than  the  Sacramento.  Purposing  to 
found  a  colony  of  his  countrymen,  Sutter  called  the 
settlement  New  Helvetia ;  but  this  project  prove<l  un- 
praptifal,  and  he  wa?^  fain  to  fulfil  the  terniH  of  his 
contract  by  enlisting  such  American,  English,  and 


V. 


Hi 


11 


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i. 


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\  ., 


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1  I  h 


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216 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


I 


■I' 


tli' 


German  adventurers  as  were  at  hand.  On  the  north 
bank  of  the  Fork,  three  miles  above  its  junction  with 
the  Sacramento,  the  empressario  built  an  adobe  fort 
and  organized  a  considerable  fighting  force,  for  he 
had  the  governor's  commission  to  defend  the  frontier 
against  gentiles  and  horse  thieves.  His  first  business 
venture  was  in  the  fur  trade,  for  beaver  were  still 
abundant  up  the  Fork ;  but  he  soon  had  opportunity 
to  buy  at  a  bargain  agricultural  implements,  seeds, 
plants,  and  draft  animals  from  Bodega,  and  was  thus 
enabled  to  develop  his  estate.  He  planted  vine- 
yards and  orchards  and,  sowing  a  thousand  acres  to 
wheat,  reaped  a  hundred-fold  harvest.  As  his  means 
increased,  Sutter  started  new  industries,  —  a  tannery, 
a  salmon  fishery,  a  grist-mill,  a  carpenter's  shop  and 
a  smithy,  where  all  kinds  of  implements,  includ- 
ing ploughs  with  iron  shares,  were  made  by  American 
machinists.  The  thirty  artisans  were  white  men 
and  were  paid  $2  a  day,  but  the  bulk  of  the  merely 
muscular  labor,  the  ploughing  and  hoeing,  the  digging 
of  irrigating  ditches,  and  the  making  of  adobe  bricks 
was  performed  by  three  hundred  Spanish-speaking 
Indians,  who  were  meagrely  remunerated  in  blankets 
and  food.  For  furtherance  of  household  industry, 
the  Indian  girls  were  taught  to  spin  and  weave,  in 
anticipation  of  the  day  when  flocks  of  sheep  should 
furnish  wool  for  cloth  manufacture.  The  output  of 
these  various  industries  far  outran  the  local  demand, 
and  Sutter  opened  negotiations  with  a  merchant  in 
the  Sandwich  Islands  with  a  view  to  shipping  butter, 
cheesp,  salted  Ralmon,  and  flour  to  that  profitiille 
market. 


St  riKu 's  I'liid    i\    I  silt. 


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; 

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^j^^£m^-jss3L'?:^y?:^f^i'!'jss^:i'.?MBsrm^-' 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         217 

The  Mexican  government  had  not  been  indifferent 
to  the  inroads  foreigners  were  making  into  this  north- 
ernmost province,  and  the  traditional  jealousies  were 
soon  enacted  into  law.     Licenses  to  take  beaver  and 
sea-otter  were  to  be  granted  only  to  natives,  but  the 
proviso  that  aliens  might  be  employed  to  do  the 
trapping   largely    negatived    the    prohibition.     The 
naturalization  law  of  1828  required  two  years'  resi- 
dence,  good   character,   a   useful   occupation,   and 
adherence  to  the  Catholic  faith.     In  1830  Victoria 
was  sent  to  California  with  instructions  to  prevent 
the  Russians  and  Americans  from  exceeding  one- 
third  of  the  population.    He  had  the  hardihood  to 
banish,  on  charge  of  smuggling,  Abel  Stearns,  the 
most  influential  American  in  the  south,  and  he  at- 
tempted to  get  rid  of  Cooper  of  Monterey,  on  the 
ground  of  conspiracy  against  the  government ;   but 
his  zeal  reacted  on  his  own  head,  and  he  was  driven 
from  the  country.  Governor  Chico  renewed  the  attack 
on  Steams  and  issued  an  order  that  every  foreigner 
must  present  himself  before  the  nearest  alcalde  and 
justify  his  residence  in  the  country  under  penalty 
of  $25   fine,   or  eight  days  at  hard   labor.     This 
edict  was  effective  only  in    the    towns,  where  it 
could  be  enforced.     The  officers  could  not  reach  the 
hunters  and  squatters  of  the  interior,  almost  the  only 
aliens  from  whom  difficulty  was  to  be  apprehended. 
Chico's  violent  and  arl)itrary  measures  soon  brought 
on  a  revolution.     Sympathizing  with  the  anti-Cen- 
tralists, the  Californians  determined  to  be  ruled  by  a 
hi  jo  del  pais  who  would  understand  the  needs  and 
desires  of  the  people.    The  foreigners  abetted  this 


>t-fi" 


m 


*,i 


I  ? 


(1 


.-KMWS^^:^- 


•i»:3M^. 


218 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


movement,  and  with  their  aid  the  Mexican  incumbent 
was  ousted  (1836)  and  Alvarado  put  at  the  head  of 
the  government.  No  sooner  was  this  would-be 
Washington  in  control  than  he  turned  against  his 
dubious  allies.  He  trumped  up  a  conspiracy  charge 
and  arrested  Isaac  Graham  and  fifty  other  warriors 
from  Branciforte  and  deported  them  to  Mexico,  nor 
did  he  hesitate  to  involve  foreigners  as  reputable  and 
law-abiding  as  Dr.  John  Marsh.  The  violation  of 
treaty  rights  was  so  gross  that  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment despatched  a  man-of-war  to  Monterey,  but 
it  arrived  too  late  to  rescue  Graham's  party.  France 
and  Great  Britian  added  their  protests,  and  Santa 
Anna  was  eventually  obliged  to  repudiate  the  action 
of  Alvarado,  restore  the  men  to  liberty,  and  reinstate 
them  in  California.  The  affair  only  served  to  attract 
attention  to  the  opportunities  for  realizing  a  fortune 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  so  enlarging  the  stream  of 
emigration  to  California. 

Meantime  the  Mexican  government  was  endeav- 
oring to  colonize  California.  In  1834  two  ship-loads 
of  Mexicans  arrived  at  Monterey  under  conduct  of 
Padres  and  Hijar,  two  gentlemen  high  in  the  good 
graces  of  the  administration.  The  immigrants  had 
been  given  free  passage,  maintenance  on  shipboard, 
and  a  stipend  of  fifty  cents  a  day  till  they  should 
reach  thrir  destination,  aft  or  thr  olan  of  colonization 
that  had  proved  so  signal  a  failure  in  the  day  of  Anza 
and  De  Neve.  Draft  animals,  tools,  seeds,  etc., 
sufficient  for  the  beginnings  of  agriculture,  were  to 
be  contributed  by  the  several  missions.  The  location 
of  the  colony  was  to  be  north  of  the  Bay,  near  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        219 

Russian  settlement  or  at  San  Francisco  Solano ;  but 
the  project  came  to  nought.  The  people  were  idle, 
thriftless,  and  vicious,  mere  cholos  (vagabonds)  col- 
lected at  the  ports,  and  the  empressarios  soon  got  into 
political  difficulties.  The  only  man  to  profit  by  this  en- 
terprise was  General  Vallejo,  who  secured  thereby  some 
additional  laborers  for  his  colony  at  Sonoma.  The 
fertile  valleys  north  of  the  Bay  were  soon  preempted 
by  Americans,  with  whom  Vallejo  was  on  very  good 
terms,  granting  them  lands  and  in  various  ways 
furthering  their  enterprises.  Here  Young  set  up 
the  first  pit-saw  in  California,  while  Stephen  Smith, 
having  brought  a  steam  engine  and  other  machinery 
round  the  Horn,  built  a  grist-mill  and  a  sawmill  on 
Bodega  Bay.  Thus,  in  time,  the  north  shore  came 
to  be  known  as  El  Estero  Americano. 

According  to  De  Mofras,  the  white  population  of 
Upper  California  in  1841  was  five  thousand,  of  whom 
four  thousand  boasted  Spanish  blood  and  eighty  were 
born  in  Spain.     There  were  at  that  time  in  the  coun- 
try three  hundred  and  sixty  Americans,  three  hun- 
dred English,  Scotch,  and  Irish,  and  eighty  French 
and  French  Canadians.     The  population  of  Mon- 
terey was  largely  foreign,  and  this  was  true  in  less 
degree  of  the  other  ports  and  of  the  two  pueblos  of 
Los  Angeles  an  -  San  Jos<5.*    The  Spaniards  preferred 
to  live  in  the  country  the  easy  Ufe  of  the  ranchero. 
There  was  a  marked  contrast  in  the  economic 
activity  displayed  by  foreigners  and  Californians. 
Agriculture,  the  peculiar  province  nf  the  Spaniards, 
was  neglected  for  lack  of  laborers,  and  the   vine- 
yards, the  olive  and   orange  orchards  planted  by 


If    1    ' 


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v. 
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220 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


ownea,  i.-j  .  y 

xA 

^n 

other  })■-•  .Si    .>!; 

■  a' 

war'-'r'  >f>:  !• 

'i)"! 

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the  ha.i.i:    >^ 

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developed  f^^   •' 

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were  owned, 

f  > 

the  padres  were  dying  out,  the  great  wheat  fields 
from  which  grain  had  been  sent  to  San  Bias  now 
produced  a  paltry  six  thousand  bushels  per  year,  and 
the  care  of  the  hides  was  so  shiftless  that  the  quality 
had  notably  fallen  off.  The  brains  and  capital  es- 
sential to  the  industrial  development  of  this  rich 
country  wp. -  >eing  contributed  by  foreigners.  At 
San  Die.     inc  iwo  »^ercantile  establishments  were 

in  named  Fitch,  and  the 
•  -.8,  Englishmen.  The  five 
■I  ■■'  '\  belonged  to  the  Boston 
OS  ■  agcies,  by  this  time  a  town 
^..li  'tants,  all  commerce  was  in 
I'he  wine  industry  was  being 
f  '  'ordeaux,  the  two  grist-mills 
I  American,  Chapman,  and  tlie 
other  by  a  Frenchman.  A  Frenchman  was  working 
a  gold  wash  at  San  Francisquito,  a  canon  just  north 
of  San  Fcinando.  There  were  four  asphalt  springs 
south  of  the  town  from  which  the  people  ca-tctl 
blocks  of  bitumen  with  which  to  roof  their  houses, 
but  no  ccmm  eial  use  was  made  of  this  interesting 
materi,"!.  At  the  port  of  San  Pedro,  thej-e  was  hut 
one  building,  —  the  hide  warehouse  belonging  to  Abel 
Stearns.  At  '^^anta  Barbara,  t  e  stor\  was  repeated, 
—  Englishmen  and  Americans  the  business  houses, 
and  Spaniard,'  on  the  neighboring  ranches.  Tlie 
trade  of  Montei-ey  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  David 
Spence,  a  Scotchman,  James  Watson,  an  English- 
man, and  T.  O.  Larkin,  an  American.  The  popula- 
tion of  Branciforte  was  mac!3  up  of  American  hunters 
who  had  settled  here  and  married  native  women. 


THE  COxNQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         221 

They  were  a  rough,  unnly  set.     Here  Dawson  had 
put  up  a  whip-saw  and  was  fast  making  money  out  of 
the  redwood  forests,  and  Isaac  Graha-    a  daredevil 
from  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  h;.        ,ih  a  distil- 
lery.    Even  at  San  Jos6  there  we;  av  Englisl 
and  Americans,  and  a  party  of  forty  ex-tra.irrs  had 
just  come  over  from  Taos  to  settle  \mv.      fh    ..ow 
settlement  of  Verba  Buena  numbered  twentA- fiouses. 
The  principal  establishment  was  th"t  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Compt'.jy,  whose  fact.-r,  William  Rae,  was  a 
son-in-law   (.f    McLoughlin;     but    two    enterprising 
Americans,  Spears  and  Hinckh^y,  had  put  up  a  saw- 
and  grist-mill,  both  workec'  by  horse-power.     Rich- 
arason  and  Read  were  d  -ing  a  good  busjiess  with  the 
whalers  at  Sausalit...     Simpson  ob' orved   that   the 
Russians  at  Bodega,  notwithstanding  the  inferi(^r  r  i  il- 
ity  of  soil  and  climate,  had  extensive  wheat  fi.  a  Is, 
orchards,  and  vineyards.     They  were  wording  two 
mills,  a  tannery,  and  a  blacksmith  ^"-op,  and  had  b  jilt 
four  sea-going  vessels   in    their   little  harbor.      Tie 
ren.arked  with  amazement    that  the  Russians   and 
English  had  coi    •  each  a  hemisphere  to  collect  th- 
rich  harvest  of  furs  "  which  the  i-dolent  inhabitants 
of  the  province  were  too  la/y  to  appr:)piiate  at  their 
very  doors." 


til 


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Section  II 
Rival  Powers 

The  year  of  1841  v^as  critical  as  regarded  the  future 
of  Cp'  fornia.  The  rival  foreign  mterests.  Russian, 
French,  British,  and  American,  were  at  the  moment 


't  r 


.     !. 

t 

* 

lit 

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>a 

!  r 

! 

' 

» 

*  ' 

t 

J 

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s* 

4 

\  » 


222 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


n 


\t  ? 


very  nearly  balanced,  and  a  slight  pressure  on  one 
side  or  another  might  determine  what  race  was  to 
supersede  the  indolent  Mexicans.  The  first  event  of 
significance  was  the  final  withdrawal  of  the  Russian- 
American  Fur  Company's  post.  Their  occupation 
of  Bodega  Bay  and  its  hinterland  had  been  denounced 
by  the  successive  governors  without  avail.  The 
British  government  (1835)  had  protested  that  the 
Russian  post  contravened  a  stipulation  of  the  Nootka 
Convention  that  no  foreign  settlement  should  be 
attempted  in  Spanish  territory.  The  United  States 
government  made  similar  representations  at  St. 
Petersburg  in  1841.  This  last  protest,  combined 
with  the  facts  that  the  fur-bearing  animals  were 
nearly  exhaustetl  and  that  the  supi)lies  needed  for 
the  Alaskan  posts  could  »/.•  more  cheaply  obtiiined  at 
Fort  Vancouver,  finally  determined  the  directors  to 
abandon  their  foothold  on  the  California  coast. 
T!ie  »,.iicers  and  employees  were  transferred  to  Sitka 
and  the  Aleutian  Islands  (1841);  but  the  cattle, 
ordnance,  implements,  fruit  trees,  and  other  prop- 
erty that  could  not  Ix'  removed  were  offered  for  sale 
at  a  lump  sum  of  .fiJO.fHM).  The  logical  purchaser 
wju*  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  by  this  time 
had  factories  nt  Yerba  Bu(Miii,  Saii  Jos('\  and  Mon- 
terey, and  was  proposing  to  open  warehouses  at  Santa 
Barbara  and  bos  Angeles  for  the  purchase  of  hides 
and  tallow.  (loverr\r)r  Ftholine  W(»'jld  have  s<t|(|  onl 
to  the  Hudson's  H.iy  Com|)an.  for  ?2(),(KX)  (•;i.s|i, 
lull  Sir  (ieorge  Simpson  did  not  think  Bodega  a 
valiinbh-  aecpiisitioti.  The  supply  of  furs  was  ex- 
hausted, the  |M»st  was  not  well  situated  for  Hie  liiile 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        223 

and  tallow  trade,  nor  was  the  surrounding  country  the 
best  to  be  had  for  agricultural  purposes.  Moreover, 
the  Russians  "admitted  that  they  had  no  title  to  the 
soil,  beyond  what  they  had  acquired  by  occupation," 
and  this  claim  w^ould  not  be  recognized  by  the  Mexi- 
can government.  So  the  offer  was  declined.  Sutter 
purchased  the  movable  property  at  Bodega  to  stock 
his  post  on  American  Fork,  while  Simpson  secured  a 
land  grant  on  the  San  Joatjuin,  tiie  site  of  French 
Camp. 

For  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  the  Russian  post 
was  not  a  good  bargain ;  but  to  the  British  Em- 
pire it  would  have  been  an  accjuisition  of  the  greatest 
importance,  giving  as  it  did  a  foothold  in  California. 
This  Simpson  clearly  saw.  "The  country  from  its 
natural  advantages,  possessing,  as  it  d<H»s,  the  finest 
harbor  in  the  Northern  Pacific,  in  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco,  and  capable,  as  it  is,  of  maintaining  a 
population  of  some  millions  of  agriculturists,  might 
become  invaluable  to  Great  Britain  as  an  outlet  to 
her  surplus  population,  as  a  stronghold  and  protec- 
tion to  her  commerce,  and  interests  in  these  seas,  and 
as  a  market  for  her  manufactures ;  and  as  the  prin- 
cipal p<H)plc  in  the  coui\try,  and  indeed  the  whole 
population,  s<>ems  anxious  to  be  relrjused  from  the 
Hcpuhlic  of  Mexico,  which  can  afford  them  neither 
protection  rior  assis.ancc,  and  are  apprehensive  that 
tlicy  may  fall  within  the  grasp  of  the  Unite<l  States, 
I  have  reason  to  believe  they  would  recpiire  very 
little  <'ne(>uragern<>nt  to  (leelar«>  their  indejx'ndeneo 
of  Mexico,  and  place  themselves  under  the  protec- 
ti'ii  of  Cireat  Britain."'    Sir  (icorge  assured   l/)rd 


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224 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


•!^  I' 


Aberdeen  that  the  presence  of  a  British  cruiser  on 
the  coast  and  the  offer  of  appointments  to  some  of  the 
influential  Spaniards  would  accomplish  the  mucli- 
to-be-desired  result.     "If  Great  Britain  be  unwillinfr 
to  sanction  or  encourage  such  a  declaration,  I  fee! 
assured,  that  some  step  will  very  soon  be  taken  wiili 
the  like  object,  in  favor  of  the  United  States."  •'     An 
important  preliminary  would  he  the  planting  of  a 
colony  on  the  coast,  and  Simpson  recommended  for 
this  purpose  the  valley  of  Santa  Rosa  hack  of  Bodega 
Bay,  the  very  region  which  he  had  rejected  as  a  sitr 
for  a  Hudson's  Bay  Company  post.«     In  his   Voj/ 
age  round  the   World,    published    four   y^ars    after 
the  letters  were  written,  Simpson  suggested  that  the 
government  negotiate  the  ac(iuisition  of  California  in 
return  for  the  extinction  of  tho  debt  of  SlO.CKW.OOd 
due  from  the  Mexican  government  to  liritish  subjects. 
This  suggestion  had  already  l)een  made  (18.S!))  by 
Alexander  Forbes,  the  liritish  consul  at  Teple ;   but 
while  the  proposition  occasioned  unfavorable  com- 
ment  among  interested   .Americans,   it   received   no 
official  attention    in    (Ireat    Britain.      Neither    Pal- 
me 'on  nor  Peel  was  willing  to  assume  any  respoii- 
sil)ility   in   the   matter.     The   bondholders,   indeed, 
nmde  some  overtures  to   the   Mexican  governtneni 
looking  to  the  accjuisition  of  land  in  satisfaeticm  of 
their  claims.     R.  C.  Wyllie.  their  agent,  had  scw.r 
correspcuidenee  with  William  Ilartiiell  ( 1S44)  respert- 
ing  the  a<lvantages  nf  California  for  the  location  of  i 
British   <'olony,   but    (lie   project    came   to   notliitm 
Still  more  visionary  was  th(>  |)lan  <if  the  Irish  \n-'w-\. 
McXamara,   to  transfer  the  (listresse<l   peasants  .1' 


m 


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THE  CONQUEST  OF  CAUFORXIA         225 

Ireland  to  the  unoccupied  wa-sies  f)f  this  land  of  op- 
portunity.     He  i)otiti(.ne<l  th^-  M*-xiean  governrwnt 
(lH4o)  for  a  tr:ict  U-tween  lh(    •*an  Joa<|Uiii  and  ti»e 
Sierras,  on  whicii  lie  promi^*>d  to  settle  from  one  t«) 
two    thou.suxl    Irish    fariiilii-s.     Kitfjer    uii',.  rtaking 
would  have  been   protested  un<iU('Htional)!y    .y   the 
United  Stat(>s  as  a  violation  of  the  >Ioiir  .<•  Dortriiie. 
Even  the  new   husiiics-   enterprise  of  tjic  f!  .-l-oiis 
Bay   Con»pai.\    was   d<.oiiied   to   failuiv.     ]■   .■    i,,ur 
years  the  factor,   at  Verba  Huena  carried  on  ;■  local 
trade  in  hides,  alth.ugh  the  .liminishinK  suppi,\    ni.i 
brisk  competition  reu(l(M-ed  tlir  cominerce  unpn-N'- 
ahle;    but  in   184o  William  Rae  l)ccam.>  involved  ni 
IMTsonal    and    linancial    dillicidties    and    <ommitte<i 
suicide.     No  one  was  sent  to  take  his  place,  and  the 
Hritish  consul  dosed  ont  the  business,  selling  the  real 
estate  to  Melius  and  Howard  for  S.')(MM).     Thus  the 
Hudson's  Hay  Cxunpany  ceased  to  influence  the  fate 
of  (  alifornia. 

In  this  same  critical  year  representative.^  of  France 
and  the  United  States  came  to  California  to  study 
the  situation  and  re|)ort  upon  the  resources  and  prob- 
able future  of  the  c(.uiitry.  The  French  government 
<  lit  Duflot  de  M(.fras,  an  able  and  experienced  man 
who  had  served  as  (ill,irh('  lo  the  embassies  of  Mailrid 
and  the  City  of  Mexico  and  \va,s  in  fnll  sympathy 
with  the  Spanish  population.  He  was  especially 
commissioned  to  determine  the  desirabilit>  of  placing 
factories  at  the  ports  for  the  aid  and  protection  of 
French  commerce,  particularly  the  whalers.  His  re- 
port !s  a  full  and  accurate  ai'count  of  the  population 
aiul  resources  of  California  and  its  capacity  for  de- 

VOL.    U         u 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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fence,  as  observed  during  a  sojourn  of  many  months ; 
but  if  De  Mofras  contemplated  ttie  Gallic  occupa- 
tion of  the  country,  he  found  little  encouragement 
in  actual  conditions.  French  residents  were  every- 
where in  the  minority,  and  they  save  unremitting 
attention  to  their  own  affairs,  mineiefl  sociably  with 
the  Spanish-speaking  inhabitants,  and  showed  no 
signs  of  political  ambition.  De  -Vloiras  claimed 
Sutter's  Fort  as  a  French  colony  and  noted  with 
satisfaction  the  strategic  importance^  ot  the  post, 
commanding  as  it  did  the  route  to  the  upiwr  Sacra- 
mento and  the  pass  over  the  Sierras;  but  \w  had  no 
more  practical  suggestion  than  that  missionaries  he 
sent  to  care  for  the  Indians  left  destitute  by  tin- 
destruction  of  the  missions.  In  private  conversa- 
tion he  freely  expres.spd  the  opinion  that  California 
would  eventually  belong  to  the  United  States.' 

Wilkes,  the  commander  of  the  United  States  ex- 
ploring expedition,  who  spent  the  month  of  .\ugust, 
1841,  in  San  Francisco  Bay,  was  much  impressed  by 
the  "total  absence  of  all  government."  The  prc.s/V//« 
V  as  in  ruins,  and  its  garrison  C(msisted  of  an  abs<Mitce 
oHicer  and  one  old  soldier.  No  one  appearetl  to  haxr 
any  resjMH't  for  Alvarado  or  for  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment. The  |)ay  of  the  trooTts  was  months  in  arrears, 
while  the  higher  officials  heljM'd  themselves  to  good 
salaries  out  of  the  custotn-house  receipts.  Tin- 
onerous  duties  and  restrictions  imposed  at  Monterey 
had  driven  what  little  traffic  there  was  away  from 
the  "o|M'n  port"  to  San  PVancisco  Hay.  Here  Hicli- 
ardson  and  V'allejo  collected  sucli  duties  jis  they  saw 
til  and  pocketed  the  proceeds,  turning  over  a  men- 


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THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        227 

pittance    to    the    constituted    authorities.    Before 
undertaking  to  put  his  goods  on  sale,  a  shipmaster 
must  first  see  the  conmiander  of  the  forces  and  win 
his  favor.     Otherwise  he  would  pay  penalty  for  his 
discourtesy  in  a  hundred  petty  exactions.     Wilkes 
claimed  New  Helvetia  as  an  American  colony,  and 
with  good  reason,  for  Sutter  employed  a  large  force 
of  American  hunters,  and  several  American  families 
had  settled  in  the  vicinity.    The  conclusion  of  the 
American  observer  was  that  Upper  California  must 
soon  separate  finally  from  Mexico  and  become  united 
Nvith  Oregon,  a  territory  with  which  it  had  already 
considerable  commercial  intercourse.     "  So  may  be 
formed  a  great  state  that  will  control  the  trade  with 
the  Orient  and  the  destinies  of  the  Pacific."    This 
state  must  be  ruled  by  men  of  the  "Anglo-Norman 
race."  *    Wilkes  gave  himself  little  concern  for  the 
authorities  at  the  presidio;  but  to  the  Americans 
gathered  at  Nathan  Spear's  store  o'  nights  he  talked 
quite  freely.    The  usually  discreet  officer  expressed 
his  conviction  that  California  must  ultimately  be- 
long to  the  United  States,  and  that  the  only  rival  to 
be  apprehended  was  Great  Britain. 


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Section  III 
The  Advent  of  the  Emigrants 

The  ownership  of  California,  like  that  of  Oregon, 
was  to  bo  (ioterminod,  not  by  diplomats  and  battle- 
ships, but  by  settlers  in  actual  possosi^ion  of  the  land. 
Rumors  of  the  fair  and  fertile  country  beyond  the 
West,  where  a  farm  was  to  be  had  for  the  asking, 


f.  !• 


228 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


soon  reached  the  Missouri  frontier.  The  letters  of 
Dr.  John  Marsh  and  the  talk  of  Robidoux,  the  Santa 
F^  trader  who  had  followed  the  Spanish  Trail,  found 
their  way  into  the  Ea.stem  papers  in  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1840,  and  their  glowing  accounts  of  Cali- 
fornia were  received  with  credulous  eagerness.'  The 
pioneers  of  Platte  County,  Missouri,  were  all  agog 
to  see  this  new  land  und  to  hazard  a  chance  on  the 
farthest  frontier.  Some  five  hundred  adventurous 
souls  signed  an  agreement  to  migrate  in  the  spring, 
but  the  merchants  of  Westport  took  alarm  lest  their 
market  should  drift  beyond  them  and  they  circulated 
tales  of  another  tenor,'"  magnifying  the  dangers  of 
the  Sierras  and  the  hostility  of  the  Californian  authori- 
ties. Bartleson  and  Bidwell  alone  persisted.  They 
succeeded  in  gathering  a  party  of  forty-eight  —  one- 
third  women  and  children  —  with  a  dozen  wagons 
drawn  by  mules  and  oxen,  and  supplies  adequate  for 
the  overland  journey.  Fitzpatrick  was  their  guide 
to  Bear  River,  and  this  they  followed  to  within  ten 
miles  of  Salt  Lake ;  but  there,  instead  of  going 
on  to  Fort  Hall,  they  struck  directly  west  in 
search  of  Ogden's  "unknown  river"  which  was  to 
guide  them  to  the  Sierras.  The  wagons  were  abandoneil 
in  tlie  desert,  and  thenceforward  the  provisions,  to- 
gether with  the  feebler  members  of  the  company,  wire 
packed  on  mule  back.  The  party  reached  Walker 
River  by  the  middle  of  October  and  they  forced  Uicir 
way  over  the  mountains  by  the  lofty  Sonora  l';i— . 
Coming  out  into  the  Stanislaus  X'allcy,  \\\vy  arrival 
at  Dr.  Marsh's  ranch  without  tlic  loss  of  a  life,  luii 
exhausted  and  destitute.     The  busine.  ^likt-  fasluon 


srttasxm^::pr. 


Is 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         229 

in  which  the  ardent  exponent  of  CaUfornia's  bounty 
asked  payment  for  food  and  clothing  astonished  and 
disgusted  the  Missourians,  and  the  fact  that  their 
knives,  powder,  lead,  and  way-worn  cattle  were  pur- 
chased at  rates  unheard  of  in  the  East  did  not  console 
them  for  their  disillusiomiient.  Vallejo,  moreover, 
demanded  their  passports  ai  -I,  finding  they  had 
none,  threw  the  leaders  into  juil.  The  matter  was 
soon  adjusted,  liowever,  when  Marsh  and  Sutter  and 
other  reputable  residents  offered  suret}  .r  the  peace- 
able conduct  of  the  new  arrivals.  The  coumi.  <ler- 
in-chief  of  the  forces  of  California  justified  thi>  ion- 
cession  on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  soldiers 
enough  to  expel  the  Americans ;  but  the  fact  that  '  hey 
made  themselves  useful  at  Sonoma  probably  did 
much  to  determine  his  tolerance. 

In  this  same  year,  another  party  of  Missourians 
came  to  California  by  the  Santa  F.'  route,  travelling 
in  company  with  the  traders'  caravan-  and  driving 
a  flock  of  sheep  for  food.     The  Spanish  Trail  was 
loss  diflicult  than  that  taken  by  Bidwoll's  party,  but 
tlie  New  Mexican  authorities  were  more  obdurate 
than  the  Californian,  and  the  road  was  infested  by 
thieving  Apaches.    This  route  was  never  popular  with 
any   but  native   Mexicans.     The  journey  via   New 
Orleans,  Vera  Ouz,  and  the  City  of  Mexico  to  San 
Bias,  antl  thence  l)y  water  to  San  Diego  was  even  more 
hazardous,  for  the  Mexican  roads  were  patroll(>(l  by 
brigands,  and  the  government  afforded  no  protection. 
This  was  the  most  expensive  way  of  getting  to  Califor- 
nia, eostingalxmt .«:)()();  but  it  took  only  tlireenumths' 
time,  whereas  the  journey  round  Cape  Horn  required 


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230 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


four  or  five  months,  though  it  cost  only  $300.  The 
overland  traverse  occupied  five  or  six  months,  but  tho 
expenditure  was  slight.  The  Missouri  farmer  could 
use  his  own  wagons  and  oxen  and  lay  in  a  stock  of 


SouTHEBN  Emigrant  IlouTEa  to  California,  1853. 

provisions  from  his  own  produce.  The  cost  in  human 
life  and  energy  few  of  these  enthusiasts  stopped  to 
consider. 

The  Missourians  who  came  overland  were  larpoly 
from  Platte  and  Pike  counties,  and  were  of  all  fron- 
tiersmen the  most  uncouth.  "They  were  mostly 
long,  gaunt,  narrow-chested,  round-shouldered  nun, 
with  long,  straight,  light-coloured,  dried-up-looking 
hair,  small  thin  sallow  faces,  with  rather  scanty 
beard  and  moustache,  and  small  grey  sunken  eyrs, 
which  seemed  to  be  keenly  perceptive  of  everything 
around  them.  But  in  their  movements  the  men  were 
slow  and  awkward,  and  in  the  towns  especially  they 


ill 


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THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        231 

betrayed  a  childish  astonishment  at  the  strange  sights 
occasioned  by  the  presence  of  the  divers  nations  of 
the  earth.  The  fact  is  that  till  they  came  to  Cali- 
fornia, many  of  them  had  never  in  their  lives  before 
seen  two  houses  together,  and  in  any  little  village  in 
the  mines  they  witnessed  more  of  the  wonders  of 
civilization  than  ever  they  had  dreamed  of.  .  .  . 
They  could  use  an  axe  or  a  rifle  with  any  man. 
Two  of  them  would  chop  down  a  few  trees  and  build 
a  log-cabin  in  a  day  and  a  half,  and  with  their  long 
five-foot-barrel-rifle,  which  was  their  constant  com- 
panion, they  could  'draw  a  bead'  on  a  deer,  a 
squirrel,  or  the  white  of  an  Indian's  eye,  with  equal 
coo'ness  and  certainty  of  killing."  " 

In  1843  there  was  a  lull  in  emigration  to  Cali- 
fornia. Men  waited  to  hear  from  their  friends 
before  undertaking  the  difficult  journey.  The  Work- 
man-Rowland party,  largely  Mexican,  went  by  the 
southern  route  and  settled  in  Los  Angeles,  but 
none  went  through  by  South  Pass.  The  year  follow- 
ing, Joseph  B.  Chiles,  who  had  been  one  of  Bid- 
well's  group,  organized  a  company  of  eight  hun- 
dred, and  piloted  it  without  difficulty  to  Fort  Hall. 
There,  because  of  the  scarcity  of  game  and  pasture, 
the  party  divided.  The  liardier  men  followed  Chiles 
to  Fort  Bois6  and  thence,  guided  by  the  Malheur 
and  Pitt  rivers,  across  the  Sage  Plains  to  the  Sac- 
ramento,—a  journey  so  disastrous  as  to  give  this 
thereafter  the  name  of  Death  Route.  The  bulk  of 
the  company  was  conducted  by  Joseph  Walker 
down  the  Ogden  or  Mary's  River  to  the  "sinks," 
and   thence   sixty  days'   journey  south    to   Owen's 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Peak,  the  "point  of  the  mountain,"  and  Walker's 
Pass.  On  Owen's  Lake,  they  were  obliged  to 
abandon  the  wagons  and  cross  the  Sierras  on  foot, 
suffering  great  hardships;  but  they  finally  got 
through  by  the  Tulares  to  Gilroy's  ranch,  without 
loss  of  life. 

This  year,  in  response  to  vigorous  protests  against 
the  American  invasion  forwarded  by  General  Vallejo 
and  by  Almonte,  Mexican  minister  to  the  United 
States,  Santa  Anna,  fearing  lest  the  example  of 
Texas  should  be  repeated,  issued  an  edict  prohibit- 
ing further  immigration  to  California.  Foreigners 
without  passports  were  denied  legal  status  and  the 
right  to  purchase  land.  Castro  undertook  to  drive 
the  American  squatters  from  the  Sacramento  Valley, 
but  he  was  not  supported  by  his  superiors,  and 
Waddy  Thompson,  American  representative  at  the 
City  of  Mexico,  secured  the  revocation  of  the  edict. 

This  year,  too,  came  the  first  Oregonians.  L.  W. 
Hastings,  who  had  conducted  a  party  to  the  Colum- 
bia in  1842,  was  dissatisfied  with  the  region  and  its 
damp  and  gloomy  climate,  and  determined  to  pros- 
pect the  Spanish  territory  to  the  south.  He  gathered 
about  him  some  fifty  more  malcontents,  half  of  them 
worn.  and  children,  and  followed  the  trappers' 
trail  across  the  Mendocino  range.  On  Rogue  River 
they  met  a  cavalcade  of  Americans  moving  from 
California  to  Oregon  and  the  two  parties  stopped  to 
compare  experiences.  All  had  evidently  expected 
too  much  of  the  Pacific  paradise.  The  discussion  of 
the  merits  and  demerits  of  Oregon  and  California 
had   the  effect  of  turning  one-third  of  Hastings' 


■  "  7f'ti-^   Id. 


narz 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        233 

company  back  to  the  Willamette.  Hastings  and 
seventeen  other  men  persisted,  and  brought  their 
families  through  to  Sutter's  Fort  in  excellent  health 
and  spirits.  Thereafter  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
trail  was  a  much  frequented  road  and  was  easily 
rendered  feiisible  for  wagons.  Another  party  of 
thirty-six  disappointed  Oregonians  came  down  to 
Sutter's  Fort  two  years  later. 

In  1844  Murphy  and  Stevens  brought  a  party 
fifty  strong  along  Mary's  River  to  the  Sinks,  and 


'7?^. 


WaoON   RotJTES  AritOSf*  THE   SlERKAH,    IS.IS-l  S5'.». 

thence  across  forty  miles  of  waterless  desert  to  the 
Truckee  River.    This  led  them  to  the  most  prac- 


n\t' 


!'  • 


> !: 


;;r 


-      t  M    h 


^  • - 


mi: 


•  .  1  r 


M-f 


u  II •|-fiTi~iiMni-ni-n-'-Mr  rfm-TwrvmmrTr  TT'm  imni  miii  ii  ' 


234 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


lil; 


l?{ 


ticable  pass  in  the  Sierras  and  to  the  head  waters  of 
the  Bear  River.  Lassen's  route  diverged  northward 
at  Lassen's  Meadows  and  entered  California  near 
the  head  waters  of  Feather  River.  It  was  three 
hundred  miles  longer  than  the  Truckee  route,  but 
had  the  great  advantage  of  easier  ascents  and 
descents  and  better  pasturage.  This  trail  was  soon 
beaten  into  an  excellent  road  which  was  thronged 
with  emigrant  wagons. 

Of  the  half-dozen  routes  across  the  Sierras,  those 
by  Sonora  and  Walker  passes  were  soon  abandoned 
as  too  dangerous.  Lassen's  Road  and  Beckwith's 
trail  were  sometimes  followed ;  but  the  most  popular 
routes,  because  the  most  direct  and  least  moun- 
tainous, were  the  two  middle  crossings ;  viz.  that  by 
the  Carson  and  American  rivers,  or,  most  feasible  of 
all,  the  Truckee  and  Bear  River  route.  The  first 
attempt  at  a  scientific  survey  was  made  by  Captain 
Fremont,  who,  on  returning  from  the  Dalles  in 
1843,  was  forced,  by  loss  of  horses  and  cattle,  to 
abandon  his  purpose  of  recrossing  the  desert  to 
Salt  Lake  and  to  fall  back  on  the  forlorn  hope  of 
getting  supplies  in  the  Spanish  country  beyond  the 
Sierras.  A  Washoe  Indian  guided  the  explorers  up 
Carson  River  Canon  and  indicated  the  road  taken 
by  a  party  of  white  men  the  preceding  summer. 
A  midwintc  transit  was  a  far  more  difficult  matter, 
for  the  rocky  trail  was  covered  with  six  feet  of  snow. 
Sledges  were  built  for  the  luggage,  snow-shoes  con- 
trived for  the  men,  and  a  hard  path  for  the  horses 
was  made  by  packing  the  snow  with  mauls  and 
shovels.     Even  so,  the  party  might  have  perished 


;^^;^iv^^i^''^3^i'^f"^:'t!irr^^ 


% 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        235 

of  cold  and  hunger  but  for  the  resourceful  courage 
of  the  captain.  Half  the  horses  were  lost  or  killed 
for  food  and  two  of  the  men  had  gone  insane  before 
the  summit  was  reached  (February  20,  1844). 
From  this  point,  9338  feet  above  sea  level,  the  vast 
slope  of  the  mountain  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  — 
eighty  miles  to  the  west  —  could  be  distinctly  seen.'^ 
The  descent  along  the  South  Fork  of  the  American 
River  was  a  delightful  relief  to  the  exhausted  travel- 
lers. All  the  beauty  of  a  California  spring  was 
spread  out  before  them,  ^'usture  was  abundant, 
myriad  flowers  dotted  the  uplands,  magnificent 
forests  of  pine  covered  the  footliills,  while  groves  of 
white  oak  followed  the  river  cou  ses. 

Arrived  at  Sutter's  Fort,  Fremont  found  supplies 
in  abundau'-e  and  was  able  to  repair  his  outfit  and  to 
secure  horses  for  the  return  journey.  His  admira- 
tion of  the  energetic  Swiss  was  expressed  in  glowing 
terms.  The  skill  which  had  rendered  the  Indians 
industrious  farm-hands  in  return  for  a  mere  pittance 
of  food  and  clothing  was  only  excelled  by  the  in- 
genuity with  which  some  thirty  white  mechanics, 
American,  French,  and  Gerni.m,  were  held  to  their 
several  employments.  Excellent  wages  (.S2.50  to 
$0  per  day)  and  the  prospect  of  lands  on  the  Sutter 
grant  were  potent  inducements  to  the  newly  arrived 
emigrants.  Several  had  already  settled  on  adjacent 
ranches,  —  Coudrois  on  the  Feather  River,  Sinclair 
on  the  American,  while  Chiles  (whom  P'remont 
had  met  at  Fort  Hall)  xvas  established  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Saprinioutn.  Equipped  anew  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty  horses   and  thirty  beef  cattle, 


,  ) 


I, 


il  I 


♦+-.' 


''  I 


<  ■ 


■i 


) 


;]^;i^: 


i 


■.tfii*^ 


-i''5^SP5!^*'^^K?lS 


236 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Fremont  set  out  on  his  return  journey  up  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley  and  across  Walker's  Pass  to  the 
Spanish  Trail."  His  enthusiasm  for  this  hitherto 
undescribed  region  was  unfeigned.  The  party  rode 
through  parklike  meadows  brightened  by  sheets  of 
purple  lupine  and  yellow  poppies  and  shaded  by 
stately  live  oaks.  Game  was  abundant,  elk  and  deer 
and  antelope,  while  droves  of  wild  horses  browsed 
undisturbed  except  by  an  occasional  Indian  foray. 
Fremont's  Journal  was  printed  by  order  of  Congress 
in  1845  and,  being  widely  circulated,  gave  tremen- 
dous impetus  to  the  California  fever.  His  third 
expedition  (1845-1846)  was  never  officially  chronicled, 
but  it  served  no  less  to  augment  enthusiasm  for  the 
land  beyond  the  Sierras  and  to  incite  emigration 
thither.  On  this  last  expedition  Fremont  crossed 
the  Sierras  by  the  Truckee  River,  and  confirmed  the 
popular  impression  of  the  greater  feasibility  of  that 
route. 

Thus  far  the  movement  to  California  had  been 
less  than  to  Oregon.  Two  or  three  parties  of  ad- 
venturers, undecided  where  to  locate,  half  of  whom 
drifted  on  to  the  Columbia  or  returned  to  the 
Eastern  states,  had  not  added  more  than  two  hun- 
dred persons  to  the  American  population.  But  by 
1845  the  systematic  encouragement  of  emigration 
was  well  under  way.  Hastings  was  in  the  East, 
preparing  his  Guide  and  lecturing  on  the  marvellous 
resources  of  California.  Dr.  Marsh  wrote  to  his 
old-time  friend,  Lewis  Cass,  dilating  on  the  advan- 
tage of  acquiring  thi?  fairest  of  Mexican  provinces 
for  the  United  States,   while  Thomas  O.   Larkin, 


.HBuwwy.^  in^iinjMii  y^at 


•."^^VOKVe^  OHBiMUnC  SWK  i^^tMSmHXtfvm^i,^i;^ 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        237 

United  States  consul  at  Monterey,  Nathan  Spear, 
and  other  enthusiastic  Californians  added  their  argu- 
ments. The  Oregon-bound  emigrants  of  1845  found 
at  Fort  Hall  two  professional  guides.  Greenwood  and 
McDougal,  full  of  enthusiasm  for  California  and 
eager  to  conduct  parties  thither.  By  their  persua- 
sion, emigrants  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  men 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  women  who  had  intended 
to  go  to  the  Willamette  were  induced  to  cross  the 
Sierras.  In  the  spring  of  1846  it  was  rumored  that 
one  thousand  emigrants  were  bound  for  California, 
and  Hastings,  Hudspeth,  and  Chiles  set  out  to  guide 
them  to  the  promised  land.  Hastings  had  discovered 
a  new  route  from  Fort  Bridger  by  Echo  and  Weber 
caiions,  passing  Salt  Lake  south  of  that  dread  morass, 
and  then  directly  west  across  the  Great  American 
Desert  to  the  Sierras.  It  considerably  shortened  the 
distance  (thirteen  days  as  compared  with  thirty- 
five),  but  increased  the  peril  from  absence  of  pas- 
ture and  water.  Several  parties  under  the  personal 
care  of  Hudspeth  and  Hastings  made  the  journey 
in  safety,  although  with  heavy  loss  of  cattle;  but 
the  Reed-Donner  company  met  a  tragic  fate.  Their 
traverse  of  the  Great  Basin  was  hindered  by  a  di- 
vided command,  and  they  reached  the  mountains 
so  late  that  the  summits  were  covered  with  snow. 
Despairing  of  making  their  way  through  to  the 
west  slope,  they  camped  on  Donner's  Lake,  just 
beyond  the  divide,  and  in  this  death-trap  half  the 
number  (forty-three)  perished  before  help  could 
reach  them.  Thereafter  Hastings'  C^ut  Off  was  littln 
used  except  by  Mormons,  and  the  Humboldt  and 
Truckee  rivers  were  usually  followed. 


;::ij 
«il^ 


\ 


i'  •  I 

'     i 

:  '  i 

I 

i 
i 


'41 


,-j^^ 


238 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


li:.*i 


The  valley  of  the  Humboldt,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  long,  afforded  a  difficult  roadway  for  emigrant 
wagons.  The  narrow  flats  were  covered  with  sage- 
bush,  breast  high,  and  pasture  was  scarce,  while  the 
river  flowing  at  the  bottom  of  a  rocky  ravine  could  be 
reached  only  at  rare  intervals.  The  Shoshones,  ren- 
dered hostile  by  outrages  committed  by  unscrupulous 
white  men,  were  lying  in  wait  ready  to  ambush  the 
weaker  parties  and  to  carry  off  cattle  and  horses. 
The  greatest  dread  of  the  Humboldt  route,  how- 
ever, was  the  Forty-mile  Desert  between  the  Sink 
and  the  Carson  River,  for  throughout  this  stretch 
of  sand  and  alkali,  there  was  neither  water  nor 
grass  to  be  had  nor  any  shelter  from  the  blazing  sun. 
Travellers  fortified  their  live  stock  as  best  they 
might  at  the  slimy,  brackish  waters  of  the  lower 
Humboldt,  and  usually  attempted  to  make  the  Car- 
son in  one  night's  forced  march ;  but  this  required 
expert  leadership  and  iron  endurance,  and  many 
fell  by  the  way.  Jules  Remy,  who  crossed  the 
desert  in  1855,  found  the  trail  strewn  with  wreck- 
age. "Here  and  there  broken  wagons  abandoned 
by  the  emigrants  indicated  the  roadway,  and  wo 
met  with  poles,  wheels,  and  planks  in  all  directions. 
On  all  sides  also  were  skeletons  and  hides  of  oxen." 
Remy  describes  several  companies  who  had  brought 
droves  of  cattle  and  horses  over  the  plains  from 
Ohio,  only  to  lose  them  in  this  waste.  In  two  in- 
stances the  owner  and  leader  had  been  killed  by  tho 
Indians,  an».l  reside  the  trail  he  noticed  the  graves 
of  "three  emigrants  who  had  left  the  States,  wlicrc 
they  were  living  in  comfort,  to  seek  a  precarious 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        239 

fortune  in  the  land  of  Eldorado."  At  the  bend  of 
the  Carson  River,  the  desert-worn  caravans  came 
upon  the  first  habitations  of  white  men, — "three  huts 
formed  of  poles  covered  with  rotten  canvas  full  of 
holes."  ^*  One  was  a  blacksmith's  shop  where 
wagons  and  harness  might  be  repaired,  one  was  a 
miserable  excuse  for  a  hotel,  and  the  third  belonged 
to  a  trader  who  supplied  provisions  to  emigrants  and 
Indians.  All  three  of  the  then  residents  of  "Rag- 
town"  were,  in  Remy's  estimation,  arrant  thieves. 

From  this  point,  according  to  the  preferences  of 
leader  or  guide,  the  traverse  of  the  Sierras  might  be 
made  by  following  the  Carson  River  to  Johnson's 
Pass,  or  the  Truckee  to  the  higher  but  more  feasible 
divide  discovered  by  the  Murphy  party. 

In  the  first  eight  years  of  the  overland  migration 
to  California,  some  six  hundred  and  fifty  men  and 
as  many  women  and  children  made  their  way  to  the 
coast  by  prairie  schooner.  These  immigrants  were 
largely  farmers  from  the  Missouri  frontier,  and  they 
settled  in  Sacramento,  Napa,  and  Petaluma  valleys 
without  much  regard  to  legal  title.  Squatters  by 
instinct  and  habit,  they  were  quite  content  to  adopt 
Hastings'  suggestion  that  a  little  delay  would 
abrogate  the  necessity  of  qualifying  under  the  Mexi- 
can law.  In  1845  Hastings  estimated  that  there 
were  two  hundred  American  farmers  settled  north 
of  the  Bay.  They  were  all  doing  well,  having  excel- 
lent crops  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  and  flax,  and  fine 
herds  of  cattle  and  horses.  Their  pastures  lay  un- 
enclosed, for  it  way  cheaper  to  hire  Indians  to 
guard  the  animals  than  to  put  up  fences  or  dig 


I   '  1 


'J  I 


i 


'A''r' 


H    i 


240 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


•'i 


■ft 


ditches.  Their  houses  were  built  of  adobe  because 
lumber  was  scarce  and  the  Indians  understood  only 
the  Spanish  mode  of  building.  The  enthusiastic 
advocate  of  the  American  occupation  of  California 
thought  the  native  ranchero  so  hopelessly  anti- 
quated as  to  be  unworthy  of  the  land  he  tilled. 
His  plough  was  a  "mere  forked  stick,  one  prong  of 
which,  being  pointed,  answers  as  the  share,  and  the 
other  having  a  notch  cut  at  the  end,  to  which  a 
rope  may  be  attached,  constitutes  the  beam,  while 
the  main  stalk,  extending  back  a  few  feet  from  the 
union  of  the  two  prongs,  constitutes  the  handle." 
His  means  of  transportation  was  '^ven  more  primi- 
tive. "A  dry  bullock's  hide,  to  which  one  end  of  a 
long  rawhide  rope  is  attached,  the  other  end  of 
which  is  attached  to  the  pommel  of  the  saddle"  of 
the  horseman.  "Upon  this  hide,  tlms  dragging 
upon  the  ground,  are  heaped  vegetables,  fowls,  and 
whatever  else  they  may  have  in  readiness  for  the 
market."  *" 

Another  attempt  to  exclude  Americans  from  Cali- 
fornia was  made  in  1845,  when  Santa  Anna  sent  an 
order  to  this  effect  to  Governor  Pico,  but  the  gov- 
ernor saw  no  reason  for  alarm.  He  continued  to 
give  the  foreigners  every  facility  for  trade  and  to 
award  land  grants  to  such  as  could  pay  for  them  or 
had  found  means  of  currying  favor.  An  ofllcial 
statement  published  by  Almonte  to  the  effect  tluit 
the  popular  belief  that  lands  were  to  be  had  in 
California  by  right  of  occupation  was  unfounded, 
and  that  nn  grants  made  to  foreigners  v/crc  legal 
without  the  express  sanction  of  the  supreme  govern- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        241 

ment,  had  no  more  result  than  Santa  Anna's  abor- 
tive order.  The  prairie  schooners  continued  to 
cUmb  the  mountain  passes,  and  hardy  pioneers 
carved  out  farms  and  preempted  pasture  lands 
along  the  lower  Sacramento  valley. 

Section  IV 
The  Acquisition  of  New  Mexico  and  California 

By  1846  there  were  seven  hundred  Americans  in 
California,  one  hundred  British,  and  one  hundred 
French,  Germans,  and  Italians.  There  were  perhaps 
seven  thousand  people  of  Spanish  blood  and  ten 
thousand  domesticated  Indians,  as  the  neophytes 
were  now  designated.  All  enterprise  and  industry 
originated  with  the  foreign  population,  and  of  the 
several  races  represented,  the  Americans  were  by 
all  odds  the  most  energetic.  The  first  sea-going 
vessel  built  in  California  was  launched  by  a  Yankee 
mechanic  at  San  Pedro.  The  first  lumber  was  cut 
for  market  at  Branciforte  by  the  Kentuckian,  Isaac 
Graham.  The  first  steam  sawMiiU  w  q  set  up  at 
Bodega  by  Stephen  Smith,  th«  iin^x 
belonged  to  Captain  Hin('kl(\v  ot 
Politically  as  well  as  industrially  tin 
dominant,  and  as  their  numbers  ii- 
reputation  for  valor  and  determine 
and  Castro  recognized  that  they  c 
exclusive  regulations,  even  had  the> 
so.  The  military  strength  of  the  Cal 
ernment  consisted  of  forty-seven  anli'su! 
and    three    hundred    and    seventeen    ut        M)lin 


.1111  flour-mill 

erba    Buena. 

oricari^    *''re 

HK    their 

i,  Pico 

i force  no 

-ired  to  do 

liafi  gov- 

oaiinon 


VOL.    II- 


:ii 


l?i  f  j 

•  :  I 
' '  ?  i 


i 


(  ' , 


/  .1 


> .» 


!  ■     I 

I        1      *        7 


i  ' 


If      ! 

i.    i 


:ir 


242 


AMERICAN  SETILERS 


tv 


'I'l 


soldiers,  while  there  was  said  to  be  not  enough  am- 
munition in  the  presidio  of  San  Francisco  to  fire  a 

salute. 

No  American  familiar  with  *he  situation  had  any 
doubt  that  the  annexation  of  Texas  would  precipi- 
tate a  conflict  with  Mexico.     When  Almonte  with- 
drew from  Washington,  and  Arista  began  to  collect 
troops  at  Matamorras  on  the  Rio  Grande,  President 
Polk  announced  that  the  obstinate  adversary  had 
"at  last  invaded  our  territory  and  shed  the  blood  of 
our  citizens  on  our  own  soil,"  and  that  we  had  no 
alternative    but    war.    General    Taylor     ,vas    de- 
spatched to  defend  our  "historic  boundary,"  General 
Scott   sailed   for   Vera   Cruz   with   instructions   to 
march  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  while  General  Kearney 
led  the  Army  of  the  West  across  the  Plains  to  Santa 
¥6.    The  latter  expedition  had  an  excellent  chroni- 
cler in  the  person  of  Colonel  Cooke,  who  went  in 
advance  to  reconnoiter  the  route.     New  Mexico  had 
changed  in  no  respect  since  Gregg  described  con- 
ditions there  prevailing.    The  adobe  villages  looked 
like  "extensive  brick  yards,"  cluttered  with  piles  of 
yellow  bricks  and  smoking  kilns.     All  pretence  of 
protecting  the  ranches  against  Indian  forays  had 
ceased,  and  the  Navajos  and  Apaches  had  swept  the 
land  of  sheep  and  driven  the  people  to  take  refuge 
in  the  villages.     The  great  ranch  owners  lived  like 
feudal  lords,  each  surrounded  by  his  force  of  peons 
whom  he  fed  and  clothed  and  kept  continually  in 
his  debt.    The  prohibitory  tariff  imposed  by  Armijo 
had  ruined  the  St.  Louis  trade  and  left  the  people 
no  resource  but  the  costly  imports  from  Vera  Cruz, 


*^i:v  ->iri  V'-'-'j'S-.V:;!^'  /•  '■-'.  tfj'? 


■■^'iiitr\;Msrmr^ 


1^ 


THE  CONQUEcvl   OF  CALIFORNIA        243 

while  the  custom  house  was  still  the  scene  of  shady 
transactions    from    which    the    governor    was    the 
chief  beneficiary.    The   few  shops   were  kept    by 
Americans,  and  the  Pueblo  Indians  were  the  only 
other  industrious  element  in  the  population.    Agri- 
culture had  reached  so  low  a  stage  that  the  country 
was  nearly  destitute  of  provisions,  and  the  military 
defences  were  of  the  paltriest  description.     Governor 
Armijo  boasted  an  army  of  six  thousand  men,  but 
he  could  not  induce  them  to  march  on  Raton  Pass  — 
the  natural  gateway  to  Santa  F4— against  Kearney's 
force  of  seventeen  hundred.     He  was  soon  obliged 
to  abandon  the  city  and  retreat  to  El  Paso,  leaving 
behind  him,  among  other  accoutrements  of  war,  a 
battered  cannon  marked,  "Barcelona,  1778."    The 
Mexican  population  acquiesced  in  this  ignominious 
fiasco,  and  the  only  energetic  defence  was  made  by 
the  Indians.    The  Pueblos  of  Taos  would  not  sur- 
render their  fortress  dwelling  until  one  hundred  and 
fifty  of  their  braves  had  fallen. 

Once  master  of  the  towns.  General  Kearney  ad- 
ministered the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  alcaldes  and 
pronounced  the  people  "released  from  all  allegiance 
to  Mexico  and  citizens  of  the  United  States."  The 
Mexican  government  had  failed  to  secure  the  first 
principles  of  well-being,  and  the  government  of  the 
United  States  promised  a  more  prosperous  regime. 
Nevertheless,  the  chronicler  blushed  for  the  rapidity 
of  the  transformation.  "They  have  been  informed 
that  they  shall  soon  have  a  voice  in  their  owr  gov- 
ernment. Doubtless  this  flagrant  servitude  will  be 
gradually  broken  up;    but  when  shall  such  people 


'i 


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\i 


-i  t 


i: :;  I 


•'I 

■  » 


•ssj^tx-afirr. 


■  ;^".::*-  ■ :  - 


244 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


be  capable  of  self-government !    There  will  be  a 
territorial  government  for  thirty  years  —  and  the 
language  will  not  change  faster  than  the  color  of 
the    citizens."  ^^    "The    great    boon    of    American 
citizenship  [was]  thus  thrust,  through  an  interpreter, 
by  the  mailed  hand,  upon  eighty  thousand  mongrels 
who  cannot  read,  —  who  are  almost  heathens,  —  the 
gr^at  mass  reared  in  real  slavery,  called  peonism, 
but  still  imbued  by  nature  with  enough  patriotism 
to  resent  this  outrage  of  being  forced  to  swear  an 
alien  allegiance,  by  an  officer  who  had  just  passed 
tb.^ir   frontier." "    The    Army    of    the   West   then 
marched   on   to   California,    "to  repeat   the  same 
rather  dramatic  exploits."     "New  Mexico  has  fur- 
nished the  scene  of  a  good  rehearsal  at  the  least."  '* 
There  were  two  ways  of  reaching  California.    The 
old   Spanish  Trail  by   Green   River  involved   too 
h^'avy  risks  in  the  way  of  snow-covered  mountain 
and  parched  desert,  and  Cooke  was  sent  to  recon- 
noiter  the  Gila  River  route.     From  El  Paso   del 
Norte  he  made  his  way  via  Bernalillo,  Albuquerque, 
and  Isletta,  to  Frontera  and  Tucson.     The  country 
was   too   rough   for   wagons,    but   the   mesas   were 
covered  with  grama  grass,  frost  proof  and  excellent 
provender  for  the  mules,  while  herds  of  wild  horsos 
and  wildor  cattle  provided  food  for  the  men.     The 
Camino  del  Diuhlo  and  the  Colorado  Desert  pre- 
sented greater  diirieulties.     T.eaa;ues  of  drifting  sand 
and  baked  clay  covered  with  mosquite  bushes  and 
artemesia,   where  the  only  surface  water  was  the 
infrrqurnt  rain  pools,  and  wells  must  he  d\ig  tn  th^ 
substratum  of  clay,  where  the  chief  food  was  that 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        245 

furnished  by  the  mesquite  bean,  —  these  difficulties 
did  not  discourage  Cooke's  Mormon  recruits.  The 
men  covered  their  naked  feet  with  rawhide  and 
woollen  rags  and  marched  on  with  a  patience  born 
of  despair.  Two  months  after  leaving  El  Paso,  they 
reached  the  Coast  Range  and  running  water.  Kear- 
ney found  California  in  a  state  of  war. 

President  Polk  had  hoped  to  purchase  California, 
and  he  sent  Slidell  to  the  City  of  Mexico  with  a  pro- 
posal for  the  cession  of  the  province,  but  the  offer 
was  indignantly  refused.     The  determination  of  the 
expansionist  administration  to  secure  complete  con- 
trol of  the  Pacific  Coast  was  not,  however,  aban- 
doned.    Its  policy  was  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
the  Californians,  while  allowing  no  other  power  to 
acquire  political  foothold   in  the  territory.     Secre- 
tary Buchanan's  secret  instructions  to  Larkin  (Octo- 
ber, 1845)  made  this  quite  evident.     The  confidential 
agent  of  the  government   was  to  use  all  suitable 
means  to  conciliate  the  Spanisli  population  and  to 
impress  them  with  the  advantages  of  a  closer  con- 
nection  with    the    United    States.     There   is   good 
reason  to  believe  that  California  would  have  accepted 
the  protection  of  her  powerful  neighbor  with  even 
loss  protest  than  New  Mexico  l)ut  for  Fremont's 
unlucky   interference.     This    gifted    and    ambitious 
yoimg  officer,  with  some  aid  from  Senator  Henton, 
had    succeeded   in    scouring    (1845)    a    conmiission 
to  explore  the  passes  of  the  Sierras  in  the  interest  of 
the  emigrants.    The  expedition  of  1843-1844  had  ren- 
(lored  liim.  familiar  with  the  Orecon  Trail  and  with 
the  Carson  River  route   to  the   Pacidc.    With   a 


^1- 

H  < 


i 


V 


i'U''^ 


1       I 


,> 


ii   1  M 


1«       !;     >    ;,i 


i    i 


i,     '  '.    3 


k     \ 


'   I     !! 


!  I 


I  . 


246 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


P 


party  of  engineers,  to  which  he  added  some  sixty 
"mountain  men"  — the  noted  guide  and  hunter  Kit 
Carson  among  them  — the  "pathfinder"  crossed  the 
Sierras    in    midwinter    (December,    1845)    by    the 
Truckee  Pass  already  discovered  by  Murphy  and 
Stevens  in  1844.     Arrived  in  California,  Fremont 
got  Micheltorema's  permission  to  explore  the  in- 
terior ;  but  his  sudden  and  unexplained  appearance 
within  a  day's  march  of  Monterey  was  resented, 
and   he  was  ordered  to   leave   the  country.    His 
retreat  toward   Oregon   was  checked  at  Klamath 
Lake,  where  the  party  was  overtaken  by  Lieutenant 
Gillespie  with  a  packet  of  papers  from  Washington, 
—  family  letters  and  a  copy  of  the  Larkin  instruc- 
tions.   Fremont  was  apparently  more  impressed  by 
the  iamily  counsels  than  by  Buchanan's  conciliatory 
program,    for   he    immediately    turned   south,   en- 
camped at  the  Three  Buttes,  and  began  to  circulate 
those  rumors  of  General   Castro's  bloody   designs 
against  the  American  settlers  aad  of  his  own  readi- 
ness to  defend  his  countrymen,  which  instigated  the 
Bear  Flag  revolt.    The  effect  of  this  ill-timed  up- 
rising was  to  engender  in  the  minds  of  the  Cahfornians 
a  di>^trust  of  the  government  that  had  presumal)ly 
authorized  the  filibustering  exploit,  and  in  the  newly 
arrived  inmiigrants  a  hatred  and  contempt  of  t)u> 
Spanish   inhabitants,  —  a   misimderstanding   whicli 
seriously  handicapped  the  legitimate  representatives 
of  the  administration  in  carrying  out  its  plan  of 
peaceful  annexation. 

The    Bear    Flag    Ficpublie    was    proclaimed    \^^ 
Sonoma  on  June   15,  1848.     Admiral  Sloat  raised 


fj^jgitfyf: 


'   !.( 


^1! 

( 


I    I    I 


-1    '     s| 


\" 


'' !:. 


i  ! 


^  ,  ,  ■  .. 


iznrf'  .xtzanftTTiaic; 


Wii 


;>J1' 


'k' 


"MX 


-P 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         247 

the  American  flag  at  Monterey  on  July  7.  In  the 
three  weeks'  interval  there  had  been  some  dis- 
honorable bloodshedding  on  the  part  of  both  the 
insurgents  and  their  antagonists,  all  hope  of  a 
peaceful  solution  of  the  imbroglio  was  dissipated, 
and  Sloat's  pacific  proclamations  fell  on  deaf  ears. 
There  was  reason  to  fear  that  the  Cahfornians 
might  appeal  to  England  for  protection,  and  the 
belated  arrival  of  a  British  fleet  at  Monterey  brought 
the  excitement  to  a  climax.  Stockton  was  appointed 
to  succeed  Sloat  in  command  of  the  Pacific  squad- 
ron, and  the  systematic  conquest  of  the  country  was 
begun.  Governor  Pico  and  General  Castro  fled  to 
Mexico,  and  Vallejo  made  terms  with  the  in\'aders ; 
but  there  were  braver  spirits  among  the  Califor- 
nians.  The  men  of  the  south  made  a  plucky  fight  for 
their  independence  and  they  succeeded  in  inflicting  a 
humiliating  di.ieat  on  Mervine  and  his  marines  at 
San  Pedro  and  on  the  more  formidable  Kearney  at 
San  Pascual.  The  issue  could  not  long  be  doubtful, 
however,  for  Mexico  could  do  nothing  to  aid  the 
loyalists.  In  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo 
(February  2,  1848),  New  Mexico  and  California 
were  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  consideration  of 
an  indemnity  of  $15,000,000. 

Once  in  possession  of  Califoriua,  the  Americans 
declared  the  obnoxious  Mexican  custi,  ns  and  the 
inefficient  and  arbitrary  rule  of  the  alcaldes  intoler- 
able, and  they  clamored  for  state  government  and  a 
code  based  upon  the  common  law.  Congress  was 
:4()w  to  act  on  the  California  rase,  buili  parties  to 
the  vexed  slavery  controversy  hoping  to  win  some 


11 


l: 


III 


Hj^l 


?1  i 


t  ^  II 
it  i 


!  ■  •: 


>.i! 


Nil 


i  ; 


248 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


advantage  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Impatient  of  delay 
and  harassed  by  the  anarchic  condition  of  society, 
the  settlers  called  a  popular  convention  (1849)  and 
adopted  a  state  constitution.  Although  more  than 
half  the  delegates  had  originated  in  states  below  the 
Mason  and  Dixon  line,  a  clause  excluding  slavery 
was  adopted  by  unanimous  vote.  The  effort  of  the 
extreme  pro-slavery  politicians  and  the  Mexicans  of 
the  Los  Angeles  district  to  divide  California  into  two 
states  and  so  leave  opportunity  for  independent 
action  was  frustrated,  and  thus  slavery  was  forever 
debarred  from  the  new  America  beyond  the  Sierras. 

Section  V 
The  Land  Question 

There  was  far  more  bitterness  in  California  over 
the  question  of  land  titles  and  the  validity  of  the 
grants  made  by  Spanish  and    Mexican  governois 
than  was  aroused  by  the  exclusion  of  slave  labor. 
All  properties  and  deeds  recognized  by  the  Mexi- 
can administration    had    been  guaranteed  by    the 
treaty    of    Guadalupe  Hidalgo;    but   to  Ameruviu 
pioneers,    accustomed    to    wander    over    a    puV>lic 
domain  in  any  portion  of  which  they  might  ac(iuir.« 
preemption  rights  by  the  mere  fact  of  settlement. 
it   seemed   intolerable    that    an   alien    government 
should  have  made  over  large  tracts  o'  the  best  lan.l 
to  men  who  had  done  little  or  nothing  to  deserve 
such  an  advantage.     The  report  of  General  Halleek 
(1847)    voiced    the   sentiments    of    the    Ameneuns. 
Few  of  the  grantees  had  fulfilled  the  terras  of  their 


\l 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        249 

empressario  contract,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
wide  estates  claimed  by  them  lay  imcultivated. 
None  of  the  grants  had  been  accurately  surveyed, 
and  their  boundaries,  roughly  indicated  by  natural 
landmarks,  were  doubtful  and  not  infrequently 
overlapped.  Some  of  the  deeds  were  of  dubious 
origin,  bearing  the  signature  of  Pico,  the  recent  de 
facto  governor,  who  had  utiUzed  his  brief  period  of 
authority  to  enrich  himself  and  his  friends.  Many 
of  the  grants  made  to  foreigners  had  never  been 
indorsed  by  the  Mexican  government  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law.  Some  were  patent  forgeries. 
The  squatters,  however,  did  not  concern  them- 
selves about  these  discriminations.  They  had  small 
respect  for  the  technicalities  of  the  law  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  challenge  titles  as  ancient  as  those  of 
Nieto  and  Yerba  and  as  well  merited  as  those  of 
Sutter. 

In  1849  the  secretary  of  the  interior  deputed  to 
William  Carey  Jones  the  delicate  task  of  investigat- 
ing the  validity  of  the  California  land  grants,  in 
order  to  determine  what  portion  of  the  territory  fell 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Congress.  The  Jones  re- 
port (submitted  in  May,  1850)  represented  an  ex- 
haustive and  impartial  study  of  the  archives,  both 
at  Monterey  and  at  the  City  of  Mexico.  He  came 
to  conclusions  not  at  all  in  accord  with  the  wishes 
of  the  squatters.  To  wit,  the  bulk  of  the  Mexican 
grants  had  been  made  in  conformity  with  the  law 
of  1828  and  were  "perfect  titles,"  "equivalent  to 
patents  irom  our  own  government"  ;  in  casns  where 
tlio   technical   evidences   of   title   were   missing   or 


m 


'>,('■ 


!V 


I    ; 


"!  ■ ;    : 


s  ^  H 


^t 


1  -I' 


■  m 


1  ( 


'?. 


250  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

defective,  long  and  undisputed  occupation  should 
be  regarded  as  establishing  title;    the  pueblo  four 
league  grants  which  had  been  distributed,  under  the 
regulations  of  de  Neve,  among  the  original  pobla- 
dores,  should  be  doubly  respected.     "They  were,  in 
the  first  place,  the  meagre  rewards  for  expatriation 
and  arduous  and  hazardous  pubUc  service  in  a  re- 
mote   and    savage    country.    They    are    now    the 
inheritance  of  the  descendants  of  the  first  settlers 
of  the  country  who  redeemed  it  from  barbarism. 
Abstractly  considered  there  cannot  be  any  higher 
title  to  the  soil."^^    There  were  without  question 
some  simulated  grants  issued  since  the  American 
conquest  with   the   connivance  of   the   governors; 
and  these  should  be  put   to   a  rigid   test.«    The 
country  west  of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin 
valleys,  precisely  the  most  available  and  productive 
portion  of  the  territory,  was  pretty  fully  covered  by 
grants   that   antedated  the   American  occupation; 
but  there  was  hope  for  the  immigrants  in  the  likeli- 
hood that  an  accurate  survey  would  prove  that 
many  holdings  were  far  in  excess  of  the  original 
grant,  leaving  a  large  surplus  still  available. 

Now  the  pioneers,  with  childlike  egotism,  held 
that  they,  being  American  citizens,  were  entitled  to 
the  best  of  everything  in  California.  It  was  in- 
tolerable that  a  few  hundred  despised  Mexicans 
should  have  control  of  vast  tracts  along  the  coast, 
leaving  only  the  remoter  districts  for  the  bona  fidr 
farmer.  What  right  had  the  Vallejos,  the  Arguellos, 
or  even  Captain  Sutter  to  eleven  league  grants" 
These  great  estates  savored  of  effete  aristocracy  and 


\\:, 


I 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        251 

should  be  disregarded.  The  land  belonged  to  the 
hardy  men  who  had  faced  the  dangers  of  desert  and 
sierra  and  had  brought  the  institutions  and  laws 
of  the  United  States  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  The 
Oregon  precedent  gave  warrant  for  the  belief  that 
every  emigrant  to  California  would  be  given  a  lurm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  the  most  promis- 
ing part  of  the  territory.  Undeterred  by  the  con- 
clusions of  the  Jones  report,  incoming  Americans 
proceeded  to  settle  on  the  most  dosiral)le  lands, 
hoping  to  establish  a  preemption  title  when  the  day 
of  settlement  came.  Especially  at  the  commercial 
centers,  San  Francisco,  Sacramento  and  Stockton, 
were  the  squatters  active  in  seizing  on  attractive 
lots,  quite  regardless  of  ownership.  The  town  of 
Sacramento  was  built  on  the  low  ground  along  the 
river  a  few  miles  below  New  Helvetia.  The  land 
had  been  sold  by  Captain  Sutter  to  Samuel  Brannan 
and  other  speculators  who  proceeded  to  oust  the 
squatters.  Organized  resistance  was  determined 
on,  and  the  leaders  drew  up  a  statement  of  their 
position:  "Whereas  the  land  in  CaUfornia  is  pre- 
sumed to  be  public  land,  therefore,  Resolved,  That 
we  will  protect  any  settler  in  the  possession  of  land 
to  the  extent  of  one  lot  in  the  cit;^',  and  one  hnndred 
and  sixty  acres  in  the  country,  till  a  valid  title 
shall  be  shown  for  it."  -'  Alvarado's  grant  to  Sut- 
ter ran  from  the  Feather  River  on  the  east  to  the 
Sacramento  River  on  the  west,  and  from  the  Three 
Peaks  on  the  north  to  latitude  38°  49'  32"  (within 
twenty  miles  of  Sacramento)  on  the  south,  and  did 
not.  therefore,  cover  the  disputed  ilistrict ;   but  the 


^ 

" 

j 

1 

I 

1 

i! 

* 

1\ 


'>  f.i 


' 


t  I 


■^  1!.: 


•!  ( 


I      s 


252 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


III: 


■\  i 


r!f|i'' 


legislature  and  the  courts  sided  with  the  speculators, 
and  the  controversy  came  to  blows.  The  movement 
spread  to  other  towns,  and  under  the  name  of  "the 
preemptioners'  league"  and  "the  settlers'  party," 
the  squatters  exercised  a  strong  influence  on  national 

legislation. 

By  an  "act  to  ascertain  and  settle  private  land 
claims  in  the  state  of  California"  (March  3,  1851), 
Congress  undertook  to  arbitrate  these  difficulties. 
A  land  commission  was  appointed  before  which  all 
titles  must  be  presented  and  vindicated  on  pain  of 
forfeiture;  but  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  com- 
mission might  be  had  to  the  United  States  district 
court  and  thence  to  the  Supreme  Court.    The  claim- 
ant, having  run   successfully  the   gantlet  of  these 
three  tribunals,  must  still  have  his  grant  delimited 
by  the  United  States  surveyor-general  for  Califoniia 
before  he  was  entitled  to  a  final  patent  from  the  gen- 
eral land  office.    Titles  that  were  rejected  or  that 
failed  of  presentation  within  two  years  after  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  commission,  escheated  to  the  public 
domain  and  were  thereupon  open  to  preemption. 
This  extraordinary  piece  of  partisan  legislation  was 
earnestly  opposed  by  Senator  Benton,  on  the  grouiu' 
that  it  called  in  question  every  land  title  in  the  state 
(titles  that  had  been  assumed  to  be  valid  in  the  treaty 
of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo),  and  imposed  upon  the  CaW- 
fornians   a   long   and   costly   process   of   litigation. 
These  considerations  had  little  weight,  however,  in 
opposition  to  the  representations  of  Senator  Gwin, 
advocate  of  the  settlers'  party.     The  result  was  to 
involve  the  country  in  an  endless  snarl  of  litigation. 


■ii 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         253 

The  California  landowner,  never  a  good  business 
man,  ignorant  of  American  customs  and  court  pro- 
cedure, had  now  to  defend  his  antiquated  title  against 
the  shrewd  and  persistent  American  claimant. 
Whatever  the  decision  of  the  commissioners,  the 
case  was  almost  invariably  appealed  to  the  district 
and  then  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  costs  of  the 
successive  suits,  together  with  the  lawyers'  fees,  far 
exceeded  the  annual  income  from  the  estate  in  ques- 
tion. The  harassed  ranchero  could  offer  only  land 
and  cattle  in  payment,  and  it  not  infrequently  hap- 
pened that  before  the  suit  was  ended,  the  property 
had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  attorneys  in  the 
case. 

The  ultimate  findings  of  the  Supreme  Court  justi- 
f\n'-  ^Vie  greater  part  of  the  Mexican  titles.  Of  eight 
h-  ired  and  thirteen  titles  brought  before  the  com- 
mission, six  hundred  and  fou'  "  finally  confirmed, 
one  hundred  ai^d  ninety  were  rc^,  ',  and  nineteen 
were  withdrawn  as  indefensible.  (Many  of  the 
smaller  landowners  and  most  of  the  Indians  failed  ^ 
present  their  claims  and  so  forfeited  their  lands.)  1 
is  probable  that  few  legal  titles  were  set  aside,  but 
the  Spanish  landowners  were  none  the  less  impover- 
ished and  despoiled.  The  Anier'  an  claimants  suf- 
fered hardly  less.  The  costs  of  litigation,  the  im- 
possibility of  selling  or  mortgaging  any  portion  of 
the  land  so  long  as  the  title  was  dubious,  the  dis- 
couragement to  permanent  improvements,  —  all 
these  deterrents,  prolonged  through  the  critical 
period  when  there  was  most  need  that  the  soil  should 
be  brought  imder  cultivation,  served  to  check  the 


■F 

1^ 

» 

' 

i. 

\f 

f 

■>  V, 


•\' 


'I ' 


■U' 


''I  ' 


I  •    1 


hr 


-' '  "tj. 


X 


254 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


■ii»?.i 


M' 


ft)?  ! 


agi'icultural  development  of  California  and  the  pros- 
perity of  the  original  settlers.    Far  better  for  the 
squatters  would  have  been  the  measures  urged  by 
Benton  and  Fremont,  based  on  the  tacit  recognition 
of  all  Mexican  titles  and  the   calling  before  the 
commission  of  only  such  grants  as  were  made  subse- 
quent to  the  conquest  or  were  challenged  as  fraudu- 
lent.    Farm  land  was  at  that  time  "cheap  as  dirt" 
in  CaUfornia.     The  very  best  of  it,  that  about  Santa 
Barbara,  might  be  bought  at  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre.22    x^  this  rate  it  would  have  been  more  eco- 
nomical to  purchase  a  quarter  section  than  to  go 
through  the  long,  anxious,  and  costly  process  of  dis- 
proving the  title  of  the  Spanish  i   "umbent.     The 
general  result  of  the  long  controvf  .y  was  not  to 
distribute  the  great  ranchos  among  American  home- 
steaders, but  to  segregate  them  in  the  hands  of  suc- 
cessful lawyers  or  to  turn  them  over  to  the  bankers 
who  had  advi^nced  money  to  plaintiff  or  defendant. 
A  land  monopoly  far  more  sinister  than  that  the 
squatters  had  denounced  was  thereby  created,  while 
the  violence  that  was  v  'ten  exercised  in  defence  of  a 
dubious  claim  debased  .'le  standard  of  citizenship 
and  discouraged  the  better  type  of  immigration. 

The  remnants  of  land  left  in  the  possession  of  the 
rancheros  at  the  end  of  the  long  litigation  were  soon 
further  diminished  in  an  equally  legal  but  no  less 
effective  fashion.  Shrewd  and  merciless  Americans, 
with  money  to  lend,  plied  the  short-sighted  and  luxu- 
rious Spaniards  with  attractive  opportunities  for 
spending.  A  loan  at  five  or  six  per  cent  per  month, 
secured  by  a  mortgage  on  the  estate,  provitiod  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        255 

wherewithal  for  gambling,  horse-racing,  or  other 
exciting  indulgence,  and  it  was  rarely  possible  to 
meet  the  obligation  incurred  in  time  to  avoid  fore- 
closure. Thus,  much  of  the  Spanish  inheritance  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  strangers.  William  Chandless, 
who  passed  through  Los  Angeles  in  1855,  describes  the 
situation  there:  "One  of  the  first  things  that  catches 
your  eye  is  a  notice  on  door-posts  and  in  newspapers, 
such  as  the  following:  'Venta  por  el  Sheriff.  John 
Smith  V.  Jose  Sepolva.  El  Sheriff  vendera  a  la 
puerta  de  la  casa  di  Condade  ai  mayor  postor  Todo 
ese,  etc.,  de  dicho  Jos6  Sepolva.'  So  little  justice  is 
done  between  American  citizens  in  California  that 
no  one,  I  suppose,  even  pretends  that  a  Spaniard, 
unless  he  offered  a  very  heavy  bribe,  would  have  any 
chance  of  a  favorable  decision."  "^  Much  as  one 
must  deplore  this  ruthless  spoliation  of  a  race,  it 
is  only  just  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  greater  portion 
of  the  Mexican  grants  represented  a  no  less  ruthless 
and  far  more  unscrupulous  spoliation  of  the  missions 
and  the  mission  Indians. 


i  in 

■  i, 

1 

1 

\ 

9 

•   t  ' 

I 

\ 

1    Ij 


I   1 


•■•1  i 


l\ 


I 


I 


i 


Section  VI 

The  Age  of  Gold 

In  The  Californian  of  March  15,  1848,  there  ap- 
peared the  following  bit  of  news  :  "Gold  mines 
found.  In  the  newly-made  race-way  of  the  Saw 
Mill  recently  e  ?cted  by  Captain  Sutter,  on  the 
American  Fork,  ^old  has  been  found  in  considerable 
(luantitie?^.  One  person  brought  thirty  dollars'  worth 
to  New  Helvetia,  gathered  there  in  a  short  time. 


I- 


1   i^ 


I'f 


I  ■    rv: 


i  \ 


256 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


P  i 


i  ■  1 


California,  no  doubt,  is  rich  in  mineral  wealth  ;  great 
chances  here  for  scientific  capitalists.     Gold  has  been 
found  in  almost  every  part  of  the  country."     The 
editor's  confidence  in  the  mineral  wealth  of  Cali- 
fornia was  at  that  moment  unfounded,  for  the  only 
other  gold  known  was  that  at  San  Francisquito,  in 
the  arroyo  above  San  Fernando,  and  placers  there  had 
proved  unprofitable  for  lack  of  water.     Marshall's 
find  at  Columa  was  not  yet  understood  to  have  any 
deeper  importance.     His  discovery  of  particles  of 
free  gold  in  the  river  had  been  made  on  January  18 
and  immediately  communicated  to  Sutter ;   but  the 
latter    was    anxious    to    finish    the    mill    and    get 
ready  some  lumber  and  in  other  ways  make  prepara- 
tions ft)r  the  anticipated  rush.     His  efforts  to  keep 
the  discovery  secret  did  not  prevail,  however,  for  a 
teamster  carried  some  of  the  shining  metal  to  Samuel 
Brannan,  then  in  charge  of  the  store  at  New  Helvetia, 
and  this  shrewd  purveyor  of  supplies  was  not  slow  in 
publishing  the  tidings.     Even  so,  it  was  two  months  in 
reaching  the  coast.     San  Francisco  was  one  hundred 
miles  away,  the  roads  were  nearly  impassable  with 
the  spring  rains,  and  even  such  news  as  this  travelled 
slowly.     The  fact  that  gold  sand  was  being  scooped 
up  by  the  handful  on  the  banks  of  tlie  South  Fork 
once  proclaimed,  every  able-bodied  man  in  adjacent 
Califc^rnia  prepared  to  reap  the  benefit.     On  June  1, 
l.arkin   (now  naval  agent  of  the  United  States  at 
San  Francisco)  wrote  to  Secretary  Buchanan,  making 
due  report  of  the  discoveiy  and  its  probable  effect.-* 
Twenty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  this  gold  had 
been  brought  to  San  Francisco  during  the  last  two 


1 


i 


i 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         257 

or  three  weeks,  together  with  the  statement  that  men 
were  making  $10,  S20,  and  $50  a  day  at  the  diggings. 
Half  the  houses  in  San  Francisco  were  empty,  "the 
owners  —  storekeepers,  lawyers,  mechanics,  and 
laborers  —  all  gone  to  the  Sacramento  with  their 
families."  Teamsters  who  were  earning  from  five 
to  eight  dollars  a  day  had  struck  work  and  gone 
up  the  river.  Several  soldiers  had  already  deserted, 
while  the  United  States  ship  Anita  retained  but  six 
of  her  marines.  A  schooner  fresh  from  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  had  lost  her  entire  crew.  The  harbor 
was  crowded  with  merchantmen  abandoned  by  the 
sailors.  (The  trade  of  the  whaling  vessels  was  finally 
lost  because  of  this  risk.)  An  American  captain, 
finding  that  he  could  not  hold  his  men,  had  formed  a 
partnership  with  them  for  working  the  placers.  He 
furnished  seamen's  wages,  food,  and  tools,  and  was 
to  give  them  one-third  of  the  proceeds.  The  ser- 
vants of  a  Chinese  merchant,  recently  arrived,  had 
deserted  him  for  this  "golden  adventure."  The 
Californian  hnd  suspended  for  lack  of  men,  and  The 
Star  office  had  but  one  prii\ter  left.  Writing  again  on 
June  28,  184S,  after  a  visit  to  tlu^  American  River, 
Larkin  stated  that  there  were  then  two  thousand 
people  on  the  American  and  ('opines  rivers,  nin<^- 
tenths  of  them  foreigners,  and  th<>y  had  accumul'itc*! 
during  the  months  of  May  and  June  two  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  gold  dust.  Thrv-fourths  of  the 
houses  in  San  Francisco  were  now  deserted,  aiid 
property  was  selling  for  the  price  of  the  groimd 
alone.  Hoth  newspapers  had  suspended  for  lack  of 
printers  and  subscribers.     Monterey  had  caught  the 

VOL.  II  —  8 


'm  i 


•^! 


•'     t    i 


;1      !: 

'I      ■     i<!l 


258 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


:■    ,J 


'>■  > 


*  1 1 , 


*Jii: 


[  H 


u 


,»^ 


infection,  and  was  being  deserted  by  its  male  in- 
habitants; "brick-yards,  sawmills  and  ranchos  are 
left  perfectly  alone."  One  hundred  per  cent  advance 
in  wages  would  not  hold  employees.  The  alcaldes  of 
San  Francisco  and  Sonoma  had  abandoned  their 
posts,  and  society  seemed  on  the  verge  of  dissolution. 
Should  the  news  reach  the  emigrants  now  on  the 
road,  the  whole  body  would  be  diverted  from  Oregon 
to  California.  At  least  half  the  able-bodied  men  of 
Oregon  (three  thousand)  came  to  California  in  the 
summer  of  1848, 1.  aving  their  crops  unharvested,  and 
but  for  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren left  behind,  there  would  have  been  great  suffer- 
ing on  the  Willamette  farms  the  following  winter. 
(Joaquin  Miller  came  to  California  with  a  party  of 
Oregonians,  1851.)  All  Sonora  seemed  on  the  move ; 
four  thousand  Mexicans  arrived  in  California  before 

1849. 

In  a  report  to  the  secretary  of  war,  dated  August 
17,  1848,  Governor  Mason  described  California  as  a 
land  peopled  by  women  and  children,  nearly  all  the 
njen  having  gone  to  the  mines.  Desertion  from  the 
army  had  become  a  serious  evil,  and  it  would  soon 
be  impossible  to  keep  a  force  sufficient  to  maintain 
order  unless  soldiers'  wages  were  considerably  ad- 
vanced. Officers  found  it  impossible  to  live  on  their 
salaries  under  the  new  and  unprecedented  conditions, 
and  were  held  at  their  posts  only  by  the  sternest 
sense  of  duty.  The  governor  describes  a  visit  he  had 
just  made  to  Sutter's  Fort  and  beyond.  "  Along  the 
whole  route  mill^^  were  lyijis  idle,  fields  of  wheat  were 
open  to  cattle  and  horses,  houses  wore  vacant  and 


k 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        259 

farms  going  to  waste."  The  Emharcadero  on  the 
river  below  the  fort  was  thronged  with  traflEic,  — 
supplies  and  prospectors  going  out  to  the  diggings 
and  successful  miners  returning  with  their  gold.  At 
the  Mormon  Diggings,  twenty-five  miles  up  the  South 
Fork,  some  two  hundred  men  were  at  work  with  pans, 
Indian  baskets,  and  cradles.  At  Coloma,  twenty-five 
miles  beyond,  the  scene  was  repeated.  Mason  esti- 
mated that  there  were  four  thousand  men,  half  of 
them  Ind'  ms,  at  work  here  and  on  the  other  tribu- 
taries c  the  Sacramento  —  the  Feather,  Yuba, 
E^ar,  and  Consumnes  rivers  —  and  that  the  average 
yield  per  man  was  from  one  to  three  ounces  per  day. 
At  the  then  price  of  gold  (ten  dollars  per  ounce) 
this  would  mean  a  total  daily  output  of  from  S30,000 
to  $50,C00.  Every  man,  except  the  Indians,  was 
working  for  himself.  Sunol  &  Co.  had  a  gang  of 
thirty  natives  washing  "dirt"  on  Weber's  Creek. 
They  had  no  comprehension  of  the  worth  of  gold  and 
were  paid  in  food  and  clothing  of  far  less  value  than 
their  findings.  On  the  Xorth  Fork  of  the  American, 
Sinclair,  a  neighboring  ranchman,  had  fifty  Indians 
at  work,  and  the  net  proceeds  of  five  weeks'  washing 
was  S16,000  in  gold  dust.  Captain  Sutter,  however, 
was  not  digging  for  gold,  —  not  even  at  C^oluma, 
where  his  proprietary  right-^  were  respected  by  tlie 
miners ;  but  he  was  carefully  and  with  much  diin- 
culty  gathering  in  his  wheat  crop.  Since  the  yield 
should  be  forty  thousand  bushels  and  flour  was  selling 
at  .S3G  per  bushel,  his  decision  to  abide  by  his  ranch 
was  a  wise  one.  Brannan,  too,  had  stuck  to  his 
store,    and    his    receipts    in    "dust"    for    the     ten 


1 


I  ■  I  )> 


'm; 


:f 


I  ' 


■■!  ;  P 


Hli 


.  !  I 
I 


f .- ir 


h\- 


260 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


n 


'"! 


■it  ) 


weeks  between  May  1   and  July  10  amounted  to 
$36,000. 

Sutter's  diary  of  May  19  reads:  "The  great  rush 
from  San  Francisco  arrived  at  the  Fort  —  all  my 
friends  and  acquaintances  filled  up  the  houses  and 
the  whole  fort.  I  had  one  little  Indian  boy  to  make 
them  roasted  ripps,  etc.,  as  my  cooks  left  me  like 
everybody  else,  the  Merchants,  Doctors,  Lawyers, 
Sea-captains,  etc.,  ail  came  up  and  did  not  know 
what  to  do,  all  was  in  confusion,  all  left  their  wives 
and  families  in  San  Francisco,  and  those  which  had 
none  locked  their  doors,  abandoned  their  houses, 
offfc.  )  them  for  sale  cheap,  a  few  hundred  dollars, 
hou?«  and  lot,  some  of  these  men  were  just  like  greazy 
[crazy].  Some  of  the  most  prudentest  of  the  Whole, 
visited  the  mines  and  returned  immediately  and  bo- 
yian  to  do  a  very  profitable  business,  and  vessels  soon 
came  from  everywhere  with  all  kind  of  Merchandize, 
the  whole  old  trash  which  was  lying  for  years  un- 
housed, on  the  Coasts  of  South  and  Central  America, 
Mexico,  Sandwich  Islands,  etc.  All  fouxid  a  good 
Market  hero."  ^^ 

Mason's  report  was  the  most  detailed  information 
ooncernins  the  discovery  that  had  thus  far  reached 
the  Eastern  states.  It  was  published  with  the  presi- 
dent's message  sent  to  Congress  on  December  5. 
Guarded  thoi-gh  its  statements  were,  it  produced  a 
furor  for  (California.  The  far-away  and  much  de- 
hated  arfjuisition  seemed  suddenly  transformed  into 
the  f.'iMocl  ishind  of  the  Amazons,  and  mon  wore 
rrady  to  sar  .i'irc  all  rober,  workaday  prospoct«  fnr 
this  chance  to  pick  up  gold  without  let  or  hindr ranee. 


I  v.- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA 


261 


^^iS^/CipwL/ 


OJ 1  J 


Duration 


120  to 
150  daya 


from  35 
to  45  days 


fforn  3:i 
to  40  days 


fnmi  10  to 
^'.'Mi^aiii 
■^'i  \o  55 
S:„| 

*  land 

from  100 
to  f>ll 
day. 4 


Routes  to  Califohma,  1s5.>. 


M^t.  U..  M.V. 


By  sailing  vessels  direct  from  London 

Ij\frp()i)I 
Huinhur^ 
or  Brcnun 


round  Cape  Ilora 


By  StPftmers  from  Liverpool,  1 
Soiabainpton,  or  Iluinburtt  \ 
A  Bremi!ti  j 


to  Aspinwall 


By  Sti'Hmers  from  I.ivcrixml, 
London,  or  Hamburg  & 
Bremen 

(or  Sail 


to  \'(nv  York  or 
Ni'W  Orli'iiiis 
from    wiicnct' 

hv       .^t     illlKTM 

to  Aspmwull 


from  whence  1  f,         _ 

by  rail  in  ,'<  "°^  Pannmii 

Hourx  iiirosfi  ^Panama  I  e        i!" 
till'    I.itlimuM  1'""'    ''f-'"' 


to 


By  Strnmon"  or   Sail   from    thi'    uliove  1    from  whi'ni'i>  ] 
parta  to  .New  Vork  or  New  Orleau.i      )      to  St.  Louis  , 


by  ijteaiiier 


from  St    I.ouin  across  the  plains 
by  Waugouu. 


I 


Th..  ;ya^uyn  road  now  being  constructiHl  from  the  Mianissippi  to  California  will  have  military 
_l  '■>'■""«  everv  l.'iniiii'H,  ■' 

rMn'.rr?!!,'',,"'!''™''''  '"  '''"'°''*  '"''1  ""'•  '""'  •''"  ■\'''  <"'  i'-  i-oii-triii'tion  may  pass  the 
"i'„'»'n'l ""'>'"'.'■';  '■'■';*''■"«  "/  the  Uthii.H  throoKh  Nicarafua  liy  Sfam  Boat  up  the  river  San 
A  railmad  uiioaj  Mexico  (tbo  Tehuautepeu  route)  is  in  cuui  -,■  of  couatruclion. 


i» 


*  : 


I 


ffi 


■f 


^-i'.     I 


.1   I 
I 


It 


i   i 


I 


t ' 


It  ' 


f ; 


262 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


There  was  a  rush  to  be  first  in  the  field.    At  the  At- 
lantic ports  ships  were  chartered  for  the  four  months' 
voyage  round  the  Horn  and  crowded  to  the  danger 
point.    The  Missourians  and  other  frontiersmen  or- 
ganized parties  to  cross  the  Plains ;  but  a  shorter  and 
less  precarious  route  was  opportunely  provided  by 
the  new  monthly  mail  service  to  California  and  Ore- 
gon, via  Panama.    WilUam  H.  Aspinwall  had  se- 
cured the  mail  contract  for  the  Pacific  Coast,  and 
sent  three  steamers  round  the  Horn  in  1849  to  run 
between  Panama  and  San  Francisco.^^    George  Law 
had  made  similar  arrangements  for  the  route  between 
New  York  and  Chagres.    The  first  steamer  sailed 
from  New  York  just  after  the  news  of  the  gold  dis- 
covery reached  that  city,  and  her  passenger  accomo- 
dations were  stuffed  with  adventurers.     When  the 
ship  reached  Chagres,  it  appeared  that  a  steamer 
from  New  Orleans  had  docked  ahead  of  her,  and  there 
was  a  mad  rush  on  the  part  of  the  passengers  to  got 
up  the  river  und  across  the  Isthmus  to  the  Pacific 
side  in  time  to  catch  the  Aspinwall  steamer.     Un- 
fortunately,   the    California    was    late,    and    the 
impatient  crowd  had  to  wait  week  after  week  in  the 
dirty  and  miasma-infested  little  port.     When  tho 
first  ship-load  of  Easterners  reached  San  Francisco 
late   in   February,    1849,    they   found   a   tent   city 
thronged  with  fortune  seekers.     From  every  port  in 
the  Pacific  men  had  sailed  to  the  new  Eldorad*). 
Experienced  miners  from  Sonora,  Peru,   and  Chili, 
bringing  their  primitive  tools,  ex-convicts  from  Aus- 
tralia versed  in  methods  of  money-making,  honosi 
and  dish«niest,  Kanakas  from  the  Sandwich  Island  . 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         263 

Chinese  and  Malays  from  the  gambling  dens  of  the 
Far  East, — all  bent  on  winning  wealth  from  the 
golden  sands  of  California.  Larkin's  report  of  June, 
1848,  states  that  nine-tenths  of  the  men  then  in  the 
field  were  foreigners.  Hittell  estimates  that  of  the 
twenty  thousand  miners  on  the  ground  in  1849,  only 
one-fourth  were  Americans.  Certainly  in  the  latter 
year  the  foreigners  carried  off  three-fourths  of  the 
gold." 

Europe  caught  the  fever  in  1849,  and  from  Eng- 
land, Ireland,  Wales,  and  Cornwall,  from  Germany 
and  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula,  even  from  France, 
the  least  migratory  of  nations,  adventurers  flocked 
to  the  far  Pacific  Coast.  The  revolutions  of  1848, 
with  the  consequent  industrial  depression,  had 
greatly  increased  the  number  of  unemployed,  and 
the  prospect  of  gathering  gold  in  a  virgin  land,  where 
there  were  no  vested  rights,  appealed  to  the  prole- 
tariat. Five  trading  and  mining  companies  were 
chartered  in  London  before  January  15,  1849.  Emi- 
grating companies  were  formed  in  Paris  (La  Cali- 
fornie,  Lingot  d'Or,  Aurifere,  etc.),  and  some  four 
thousand  of  the  poor  were  transported  to  California, 
the  costs  being  met  by  lotteries.  In  addition  to 
those  assisted  emigrants,  many  Frenchmen  came  on 
their  own  account,  and  many  more  deserted  from  the 
ships  despatched  to  this  new  and  promising  market 
by  the  merchants  of  Paris  and  Bordeaux.  The 
French  were  not  very  successful  as  miners  because 
of  ttioir  love  of  pleasure  and  their  inability  to  organize 
pfTpf^tively,  and  they  gravitated  to  the  towns.  Here 
they  grow  prosperous  keeping  the  restaurants,  shops. 


\ 


A^to^^^ 


264 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


theatres,  and  saloons  where  the  American  miner  spent 
his  money.  Miners  returning  from  the  diggings  had 
exciting  tales  to  tell  of  lucky  strikes,— nuggets 
found  lying  in  the  bed  of  a  stream  and  flakes  of  gold 
scooped  from  crevices  in  the  canon  wall  with  dirk- 
knife  and  spoon ;  phenomenal  losses,  too, — hundreds 
of  pounds  of  gold  dust  stolen  by  tricky  partners 
or  wandering  thieves;  tales  also  of  the  summary 
vengeance  exacted  by  vigilance  committees  and  lynch 

law. 

The  methods  of  getting  out  the  gold  were  still  of  the 
simplest.    Three  or  four  men  usually  worked  in  com- 
pany. The  first  shovelled  the ' '  dirt ' '  from  the  bank  or 
shoal  of  the  river  or  from  the  "pay  streak"  of  a  near- 
by arroyo,  another  carried  it  to  the  water,  a  third 
rocked  the  "cradle,"  — a  semicircular  trough  with  a 
perforated  iron  sieve  at  the  upper  end,  through  which 
the  dirt  was  sifted  and  washed.    The  earth  ran  off 
with  the  water,  while  the  gold  dust  and  "  black  sand," 
having  greater  specific  gravity,  were  caught  on  cleats 
fastened  to  the  floor  of  the  trough.    The  most  ex- 
perienced man  of  the  "gang"  was  intrusted  with  the 
task  of  "panning  out"  the  gold,  i.e.  blowing  off  the 
"black  sand"   (iron  pyrites^  and  scraping  up  the 
virgin  gold.    The  day's  takings  were  divided  equally 
among  the  partners,  except  the  nuggets  which,  ac- 
cording to  universal  custom,  were  pocketed  by  the 
finder.    For  this  simple  operation,  energy  and  good 
will  were  important  factors,  but  no  capital  was  neces- 
sary, and  any  ignoramus  with  muscle  and  endurance 
could  succeed  as  well  as  a  man  of  brains.     The  miners 
from  Sonora  and  ChiU  had  little  advantage  over  an 


l\V 


1 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        265 

American  farmer  who  had  never  seen  a  placer.  Their 
rude  tools—  the  pan,  the  arrastra,^  and  the  amalgam 
process  —  were  easily  imitated,  and  the  Americans 
were  soon  quite  as  expert  as  the  best  of  them  and 
even  introduced  labor-saving  devices.  The  processes 
were  purely  mechanical,  without  resort  to  metal- 
lurgy, and  very  wasteful.  Fully  half  the  gold  dust 
(one-twentieth  in  1866,  according  to  Hittell)  was 
washed  away  down-stream.  Where  water  was  not 
to  be  had,  the  earth  and  gravel  were  ground  up  to- 
gether and  the  dry  powder  was  tossed  from  a  pan 
into  the  air,  so  that  the  lighter  earth  and  sand  were 
blown  away  by  the  breath  or  the  wind,  and  the  gold 
fell  back  into  the  pan.     This  method  was  often  prac- 


I- 


*M,I 


u  J 


•    { 


The  Northern  Mines. 


U    h 


It     t 


i   I 


u^^i^^. 


266 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


\ 


h  ! 


tised  by  the  Sonorans.  The  Americans  sometimes 
poured  a  stream  of  silt-laden  water  over  the  rough 
surface  of  a  blanket. 

The  gold  fields  of  California  lay  in  the  foot-hills  of 
the  Sierras  at  an  elevation  of  from  one  thousand  to 
five  thousand  feet,  and  comprised  the  westward  slope 
of  the  great  interior  valley.  For  a  distance  of  five 
hundred  miles,  the  river  wash,  the  arroyos,  and  even 
certain  elevated  plateaus  like  the  Buttes,  Tuolumne 
and  Table  Mountain  were  impregnated  with  grains 
and  flakes  and  nuggets  of  gold.  The  treasure  had 
evidently  been  brought  down  by  erosion  from  veins 
hidden  away  in  the  Sierras,  and  the  richness  of  the 
deposit  anO  the  quality  of  the  gold  varied  according 
to  conditions  that  could  not  be  predicated  by  the 
most  experienced  miner.  The  whole  area  was  di- 
vided, in  miners'  parlance,  into  a  northern  and  a 
southern  field ;  the  former  stretched  from  Mt. 
Shasta  1  American  River,  including  the  Sacramento 
River  and  its  tributaries  and  the  subsidiary  fields 
along  the  Trinity  and  Klamath  rivers;  the  latter 
ran  from  Mt.  AVhitney  to  Kern  River  and  mcluded 
two  subordinate  districts,  the  Salinas  and  San  Fer- 
nando placers.  The  best-grade  ores  were  found 
in  the  central  area  along  the  Tuolumne,  Stanis- 
laus and  Calaveras  rivers,  and  the  deposits  deteri- 
orated toward  either  extreme  wing.  Painted  black 
upon  the  map  of  California,  this  area  would  look  like 
the  shadow  of  a  gigantic  bird  of  prey  settling  down 
over  the  land.  Throughout  its  length  and  breadth, 
the  region  was  no-man's-land.  With  the  exception 
of  Sutter's  ill-defined  grants,  all  of  the  territory  east 


'■•Tap* • -r^t-  ■  >  rfn?^^/ :  .^ 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        267 


WitiiMMlu«.i^.,  £<.£. 


The  Southeun  Mines. 


of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers  was  public 
property  and  at  the  disposal  of  the  first  comer.  Gov- 
ernor Mason  had  indeed  suggested  that  the  land  be 
surveyed  into  plots  of  from  twenty  to  forty  acres 
and  that  these  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidtler  for  the 
benefit  of  the  national  treasury ;  but  there  was  no 
force  in  the  country  sufficient  to  execute  such  a 
scheme,  and  no  regulation  of  the  mining  claims  was 
attempted  for  many  years  to  come. 

Over  this  unknown  field  the  gold-seekers  roamed 
at  will.  When  the  bars  along  the  American  and  its 
tributary  "forks"  were  exhausted,  prospectors  went 
down  to  the  Consumnes  and  the  Moquelumne,  and 
found  diggings  equally  rich.  In  1850  the  more  rest- 
less spirits  moved  north  to  the  Yuba,  Bear,  and 
Feather  rivers  and  south  to  the  Calaveras,  Stanislaus, 


:'i  I 


\,  i   "t 


I 

!    '       '' 

k    t 

I.     :  i 


]^^!^:^^^v^^m^. 


268 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


t  ?, 


i   ! 


' 


E  ( 


and  Tuolumne  as  far  as  the  Mariposa.  In  1S51 
mining  operations  were  extended  north  to  the  Shasta 
and  Trinity  districts.  There  seemed  to  De  no  limit 
to  this  gratuitous  wealth,  and  most  men  thought  the 
supply  inexhaustible.  They  hurried  from  stream  to 
stream  and  from  bar  to  bar,  always  hoping  to  better 
their  chances  of  a  lucky  strike  or  to  hit  upon  the 
"mother  lode,"— the  original  vein  of  pure  metal  in 
which  every  "forty-niner"  had  profound  faith.  A 
vein  of  gold-bearing  quartz  was  early  discovered  in 
the  southern  Sierras  and  traced  by  outcroppings 
from  the  Mariposa  River  north  to  the  Moquelumne. 
The  lucky  prospectors  had  hardly  set  to  work  when 
they  receiv^ed  notice  that  they  were  infringing  on 
private  land !  Captain  Fremont  had  purchased 
from  Alvarado  a  floating  grant  (conceded  to  the 
latter  by  Micheltorema)  to  be  located  somewhere 
between  the  San  Joaquin  and  the  mountains.  The 
thrifty  hero  had  paid  S3000  for  the  claim,  intending 
to  secure  pasture-lands  along  the  fertile  bottoms  'ji 
the  San  Joaquin;  but  when  rumors  of  the  mother 
lode  reached  him,  he  shifted  his  claim  into  the  foot- 
hills. His  rights  were  indorsed  by  the  Jones  report 
and  sustained  by  the  Land  Commission,  and  the 
would-be  exploiters  of  the  quartz  deposits  were  forced 
to  withdraw.  Las  Mariposas  grant  was  a  subject  of 
bitter  contention,  however,  for  years  to  come.-' 

The  total  intake  of  gold  for  1848  was  $5,000,000, 
for  1849,  $40,000,000,  and  the  output  increased  year 
by  year.  Butler  King,  the  senator  from  Georgia 
who  visited  the  diggings  in  1849,  reported  five  thou- 
sand men  in  the  field  and  gave  an  optimistic  augury 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        269 

for  the  future  of  California.  One  hundred  thousand 
persons  found  their  way  to  California  in  the  course 
of  1850,  most  of  them  able-bodied  miners.  William 
Kelley,  an  intelligent  Irishman  who  made  an  ex- 
tended tour  of  the  mines  this  same  year,  gave  his 
conclusions  as  follows:  "The  average  daily  income 
of  the  miners,  embracing  all  the  diggings,  has  been 
computed,  by  persons  in  a  position  to  make  the  cal- 
culation, at  eight  dollars ;  which,  .  .  .  taking  good 
mines  and  bad,  energetic  men  and  slothful,  good 
workmen  and  those  unused  to  toil,  I  consider  toler- 
ably near  the  mark.  Let  me  next  see  the  number  of 
days  this  income  can  be  reckoned  on ;  we  first  sub- 
tract fifty-two  Sundays  [the  miners  invariably  de- 
voted their  Sundays  to  recreation],  and  at  least 
ninety-one  days  for  the  winter  and  high-water  season, 
making  together  one  hundred  and  forty-three  days; 
or  .  .  .  [leaving]  within  a  fraction  of  thirty-two 
weeks ;  then  all  miners  allow  at  the  rate  of  one  day 
in  the  week  for  prospecting,  seeking  new  ground, 
which  leaves  a  residue  of  one  hundred  and  ninety 
working  days ;  from  which  I  might  and  should 
deduct  largely  for  sickness  and  other  contingencies ; 
but  admitting  one  hundred  and  ninety  days  as  the 
yearly  average  at  8  dollars  per  day,  it  yields  a  total 
of  1520  dollars,  showing  that  something  over  4  dol- 
lars per  day  for  the  year  round  is  the  miner's  in- 
come." '°  Kelley  concluded  that  a  man  could  do 
much  better  as  clerk  or  even  as  a  day  laborer  at 
Sacramento,  Stockton,  or  San  Francisco,  for  his  wages 
would  "  3  as  good  and  his  expenses  far  less.  The 
usual  '•ate  of  wages  in  the  Coast  towns  was  S5  per 


f 

( 

!^ 

1 

t 

*  ■ 

1' 

i    '' 

t' 

! 


\ 


;;m 


I  ! 


270 


AMERICAN  SETTLERi 


\l 


u 


day,  a  rate  necessitated  by  scarcity  of  labor  and  by 
the  hope,  cherished  by  every  laborer,  of  being  able  to 
make  a  lucky  strike,  should  he  go  to  the  diggings. 

That  Kelley's  conclusions  w^re  r-t  pessimistic  is 
clear  from  an  investigation  com»lote-l  in  xhc  autumn 
of  1849,  but  not  made  public     nil  18')].     Tyson's 
very  interesting  and  scientific  ireiMse.  GeoloQu  and 
Industrial  Resources  of  California,  was  much  more 
conservative  than   Butler's   report,''    and   his    con- 
clusions were  calculated  to  dampen  the   ardor  of 
a  novice.     "I  was  irresistibly  led  to  the  conclusion, 
that  a  very  small  proportion  indeed  of  those  who 
occupied  themselves  in  collecting  the  metal  from  the 
earth  were  adequately  rewarded,  whilst  the  great  body 
of  them  have  done  Uttle,  if  any,  n.->re  than  to  idpport 
themselves.     And  yet  the  severity  of  the  labor,  the 
pi'vations  and  incidental  personal  exposure,  are  un- 
equalled by  any  pursuit  practised  in  our  country. 
And  as  a  necessary  consequence,  disease  and  death 
prevail  so  extensively  as  to  bring  distress  and  want 
upon  many  a  family  at  home,  whose  members  had 
been  mduced  w)  hasten  to  El  Dorado,  under  the  hope 
of  soon  returning  with  wealth  in  abundance.     The 
chances  of  getting  rich  by  these  means  did  not  ap- 
pear better  than  those  of  the  lottery  adventurer,  who, 
in  general,  loses  his  money  without  impairing  his 
health."  ''"     lOven  Rutler  King's  estimate  of  the  out- 
put of  1848  (for  the  nine  months  from  June  to  De- 
cember inrlucive)  at  $5,()00,0()()  would  give  no  higlu^r 
average  than  ?11000  for  «>arh  of  the  five  thousand  men 
at  work  in  the  diggings,  -not  a  flattering  showing 
when  (me  ronnidcrj^  the  heavy  expense  invo|v«l  a!'.;l 


M 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        271 

the  back-breaking  character  of  the  work.  To  stand  in 
cold  running  water,  with  a  hot  sun  shining  on  one's 
head,  engaged  in  a  cask  that  st'-iined  every  muscle  in 
one's  body,  was  a  severe  test  ot  t.idurance.  "The  art 
of  gold-digging,"  said  a  man  who  had  tried  it,  "is  un- 
equalled by  any  other  in  the  world  in  severity.  It  com- 
bines within  itself  the  arts  of  canal-digging,  ditching, 
laying  stone  walls,  ploughing,  and  hoeing  potatoes." 
The  cost  of  living  varied  with  distance  from  San 
Frai.jisco,  the  means  of  transportation,  and  the 
season.  The  camps  on  the  American,  Yuba,  and 
Feather  rivers  which  could  be  reached  by  boat  got 
abundant  provisions,  though  prices  sometimes  rose  to 
famine  hoi<;;ht  only  to  drop  sharply  when  a  steamer 
arrived.  The  diggings  on  the  mountain  streams 
could  bo  reached  only  by  pack-mule,  and  the  supply 
was  very  uncertain.  In  the  rainy  season  the  charge  for 
freighting  goods  to  the  Stanislaus  River  was  $1  per 
poui.J,  and  the  goods  retailed  at  from  Sl.oO  to  ?3  per 
pound.  Flour  sold  for  SI. 50  per  pound,  pork  for  SI. 25, 
and  boots  for  two  ounces  of  gold  (S20)  a  pair.  On  the 
remote  Trinity  Riverdiggings,  the  winter  prices  were 
S5  per  pound  lor  flour,  S4  for  pork,  and  S3  for  beans. 
At  such  rates  few  men  could  do  more  than  makc^ '!  "ng 
expenses,  the  gains  of  the  summer  being  rapid.  if  en 
up  in  the  six  months  during  which  work  was  irnpos- 
sible  because  of  ihe  constant  rains  and  the  tlooded 
rivers.  The  ?nen  who  reajied  the  golden  harvest 
were  those  who  purveyed  to  the  necessities  and  the 
vices  of  the  miners.  "The  storekeeper,  or  the  gam- 
iiiu;-house  keeper,  is  the  ravenous  shark  who  swallows 
iin   ill!       T'>"    i>...io>'I*"    '\f    fl^"    «■-!-!  r..,,i.,_,.     :r   iU-.- 


\ 


1*1    I 

it  I     ; 


>   I 


!  \ 


I    1 


272 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


avoid  the  demon  of  the  f^ambUng]  hells,  are  at  the 
mercy  of  the  ogre  of  the  ^  ore,  who  crams  them  first 
and  devc'Ts  them  after.  .  .  .  Only  in  few  instances 
have  men  been  sufficiently  fortunate  and  prudent 
steadily  to  accumulate  gold."  '* 

The  well-nigh  inevitable  effect  of  the  wearing 
labor,  the  prolonged  excitement,  the  careless  life  in 
tent  or  brush  hut,  the  insufficient  and  often  stale  and 
unwholesome  food,  was  a  physical  breakdown.  The 
unaccustomed  exposure  to  heat  and  cold,  drought 
and  wet,  brought  on  scurvy,  dysentery,  and  malaria. 
An  English  physician,  Tyrwhitt  Brooks,  who  worked 
in  the  northern  field  in  1849,  testifies  that  at  the  end 
of  the  summer  two-thirds  of  the  men  in  the  camps  ho 
visited  were  unal)le  to  leave  their  tents.  In  the 
autumn  of  1849,  a  hospital  was  improvised  at  Stock- 
ton for  the  wrecks  of  men  who  were  returning  from 
the  southern  placers,  many  of  whom  were  crazed  by 
the  rapid  alternation  of  success  and  failure  and  the 
desperate  chances  of  the  miner's  lot. 

The  mania  continued  none  the  less,  and  the  influx 
of  fortune-hunters  augmented  year  by  year.  The 
excitement  was  kept  alive  by  reports  of  lucky  finds, 
sedulously  spread  abroad  by  merchants  and  trans- 
portation agents,  and  by  the  romantic  accounts  of 
California  written  by  enthusiastic  visitors  such  as 
Bayard  Taylor  and  W.  G.  Stillman.  Narratives  of 
fabulous  strikes  and  sudden  wealth  were  eagerly 
caught  up  by  the  Eastern  press  and  widely  disscini- 
nated,  while  the  steamer  editions  of  the  California 
papers  were  filled  with  glowing  accounts  of  the  riches 
yel  to  l)e  unearthed.     Only  the  successes  were  re- 


us 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        273 

ported.     Few  of  the  thousands  of  men  who  returned 
home  poorer  than  they  ca  ae,  and  broken  in  health 
and  spirits,  attempt'  d  to  relate  their  experiences.^* 
The  new-comers  were  most  of  them  in  a  credulous 
mood,  ready  to  be  ta  cen  in  by  the  most  unlikely  proj- 
ect.   The  Gold    Bluff   fake   is  an  instance.     Some 
shrewd  prospectors  brought  to  San  Francisco  an  ac- 
count of  the  rich  deposits  carried  down  to  the  coast 
by  the  Klamath  River  and  deposited  on  tlie  beach 
below  its  mouth.     On  the  basis  of  this  tale,  a  com- 
pany was  organized  to  exploit  the  promising  field,  a 
large  amount  of  stock  was  subscril)ed,  and  claims 
bought  up  at  a  fabulous  price.     A  ship  was  chartered 
and  equipped  with  the  most  approved  washers  and 
sluices,  and  its  cabins  and  deck   space  were  filled 
tu  overflowing.     Other  vessels  advertised  sailings  to 
the  same  point.     When,  all  too  late,  an  expert  was 
St       on  to  inspect  the  property,  the  golden  sands 
were  reported  to  bear  only  an  inappreciable  amount 
of  "dust."    Another  bonanza  was  announced  in  1855. 
?iumors  of  exte   nve  "bars,"  unprecedentedly  rich, 
along  the  Kern  Uiver,  occasioned  a  mat!  rush  to  that 
remote  region.     Good  diggings  on  the  Stanislaus  and 
Carson  Creek  were  abandoned,  and  miners  trudged 
over  the  three  hundred  miUvs  of  parched  prairie  be- 
yond the  Tulares  to  the  extreme  southern  limit  of  the 
Great  Valley.    When  they  reached  their  goal,  st  rength 
exhausted  and  provisions  spe-it,  they  found  that  the 
vaunted  placers  panned  out  but  poorly,   the  gold 
being  scarce  and  of  inferior  quality.     The  outraged 
miners  looked  about  for  the  originator  of  the  hoar, 
uiiil  fixed  upon  the  storekeeper,  who  was  reaping  a 

VOL.    II — T 


^^^^^^^ 

yt^'^ 

Wl'  w 

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274 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


t  ;'i, 


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rich  harvest  off  the  befooled  prospectors.  A  volun- 
teer court  declared  him  guilty  of  death,  and  he  was 
promptly  hanged  and  his  goods  confiscated  to  the 
needs  of  the  impoverished  comnmnity.  Not  all 
the  promoters  ot  that  early  day  met  with  so  summary 
punishment,  and  every  steamer  brought  a  new  supi  ly 
of  guUibles. 

The  gold  dust  accumulated  at  such  heavy  cost 
speedily  changed  hands,  usually  finding  its  way  to 
the  men  who  had  not  worked  for  it.  Every  mininjj; 
camp  was  infested  with  middlemen  who  levied  "a 
silent  tax  '  (Carson's  phrase)  on  these  reckless  com- 
munities. There  were  purveyors  to  need,  pleasure, 
and  vice ;  storekeepers  and  proprietors  of  hotels  anil 
restaurants,  of  saloons  and  gambling  hells,  bogus 
physicians  and  lewd  women,  all  eager  to  rid  the  for- 
tunate miners  of  their  gains.  Few  were  the  men  who 
had  sufficient  self-control  to  resist  the  temptation  to 
spend  extravagantly  the  gold  that  seemed  so  abun- 
dant. Placer-mining  was  in  itself  a  game  of  chance  of 
the  most  exciting  kind.  To  stake  the  day's  winnings 
at  the  gambling  table  in  the  evening  was  but  the 
logical  sequence.  "Gambling  seemed  to  be  the  rulinjz; 
passion.  There  wa«  no  value  set  on  money,  as  it 
would  not  procure  the  comforts  of  life,  or  amusement, 
or  pleasure  to  the  holders ;  millions  of  dollars  were 
recklessly  squandered  at  the  gaming  tables  and 
drinking  shops."  '* 

An  impartial  study  of  the  records  of  the  first  decade 
of  the  gold  fever  will  prove  that  not  the  miners,  but 
the  men  who  had  the  good  f,ensc  to  stick  to  ordinary 
business,  made  the  permanent  fortunes.     Weber,  tin' 


^  I  i 


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^-:  :i^M^;^^':<'q;;??^$:^ 


\im 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         275 

Indian  trader  at  French  Camp,  suddenly  found  him- 
self the  sole  dispenser  of  supplies  to  the  mushroom 
city  of  Stockton,  and  he  sent  atajos  laden  with  gold 
to  the  Coast.  The  man  who  bought  an  abandoned 
steamer,  improvised  a  crew,  and  carried  the  gold- 
seekers  and  their  supplies  up  the  Sacramento  or  the 
San  Joaquin,  —  the  merchants  who  sent  trains  of 
pack-mules  along  the  river  beds  and  arroyos,  —  the 
ranchmen  who  sold  horses  that  had  cost  them  $20  for 
$200  and  fat  cattle  that  had  brought  $6  in  1848  for 
from  $100  to  $200,  accumulated  solid  fortunes. 
Gold  dust  sold  at  the  mines  for  $10  in  1849  and  for 
$16  in  1852 ;  but  it  was  worth  still  more  ($18)  at  the 
United  States  mint.  The  express  companies  that 
were  organized  to  carry  supplies  to  the  camps  bought 
the  precious  metal  at  the  mines,  transported  it  to 
San  Francisco  and  thence  by  ship  to  New  York,  and 
reaped  a  very  tidy  profit  on  the  transaction.  Sutter 
had  an  extraordinary  chance  to  build  up  a  fortune 
and,  in  spite  of  his  frontier  habit  of  miscellaneous 
hospitality,  made  money  in  the  initial  years ;  but 
he  spent  it  all  in  defending  his  title  to  his  princedom 
on  the  Sacramento. 

It  is  evident  to  any  one  who  reads  between  the  lines 
the  history  of  the  "golden  age"  that  the  discovery 
of  precious  metals  is  likely  to  bo  a  curse  to  the 
country  where  they  are  found  as  well  as  to  the  men 
who  rpend  strength  and  fortune  in  the  mines.  The 
men  and  the  nations  who  ultimately  profit  by  the 
disco /ery  are  those  who  provide  the  means  of 
life  to  the  actual  workers.  This  valuable  bit  of 
wisdom  was  early  divined  by  the  merchants  of  the 


■I* 


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g|^^"?i:.-v^ 


276 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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i^li 


Atlantic  seaports.  Consignments  of  food,  cloth- 
ing, liquors,  and  patented  mining  devices  were  des- 
patche  i  round  the  Horn.  One  New  York  Yankee 
shipped  a  number  of  ready-made  wooden  houses  so 
constructed  as  to  be  easily  put  together,  and  sold 
them  to  advantage  in  San  Francisco,  notwithstand- 
ing the  enormous  freightage  (sixty  cents  per  square 
foot).  Australia  sent  "tin  houses,"  and  from  China 
came  clothing  and  boxes  of  spoiled  tea,  as  well  as 
laborers.  The  merchants  of  Honolulu  despatched 
ship-loads  of  provisions,  sugar  and  beef  and  flour, 
even  building  stone  from  the  coral  reefs.  The  return 
cargo  w:.s  rot  infrequently  tons  of  soiled  hnen  sent 
to  the  washerwomen  of  the  Islands  to  avoid  the  San 
Francisco  charge  of  S8  per  dozen. 

So  the  finders  of  the  golden  fleece  scattered  their 
treasure  far  and  wide.  The  chief  gains  accrued  to 
Yerba  Buena.  Other  harbors  on  the  spacious  Bay 
had  contended  for  the  miners'  traffic  —  Benicia, 
Vallejo's  colony  to  the  north  of  Estrecho  Carquines, 
and  the  New  York  of  the  Pacific  —  a  mushroom  town 
on  the  opposite  shore ;  but  the  iialf-moon  bay  which 
Simpson  had  chosen  for  the  site  of  his  trading  post 
because  of  its  neighborhood  to  the  farms  of  the 
Santa  Clara  Valley,  absorbed  the  bulk  of  the  ocean 
trade.  Yorba  Buena  boasted  forty  families  and 
two  hundred  inhabitants  at  the  end  of  the  Mexican 
regime,  and  the  a<lvent  of  the  Mormons  in  July,  184(). 
doubled  the  ];ojMilation.  Yet  in  Augdst  of  1S47 
there  were  but  four  Kiindred  and  fifty  Americans  in 
the  place.  They  juiopud  the  name  of  tlic  Bay  a^ 
the  name  of  their  town,  and  proceeded  to  plan  for  a 


I 

I 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        277 

great  commercial  future  such  as  the  devotees  of  St. 
Francis  had  never  dreamed.    The  population  in  the 
winter  of  1849-1850  was  estimated  at  fifty  thousand, 
and  the  canvas  tents,  tin  houses,  and  wooden  cabins 
were  scattered  all  the  way  from  the  beach  to  Telegraph 
Hill.     Hither  came  the  ships  from  Canton,  Honolulu, 
and  Sydney,  the  steamers  from  Panama,  the  swift 
clippers  that  made  the  voyage  round  the  Horn  from 
New  York  in  three  months.     Here  on  the  broad 
sands  of  Millers  Point  were  deposited  the  crates  of 
clothing  and  food-stuffs  brought  from  far-away  lands. 
The  incoming  adventurers  must  fain  spend  a  few  days 
or  weeks  in  San  Francisco  before  setting  out  for  the 
diggings  and  patronize  living  accommodations  that 
ranged  in  quality  and  price  from  a  shack  of  rough 
boards  on  the  beach  to  the  St.  Francis  Hotel,  "where 
you  can  get  good  fare  and  the  luxury  of  sheets  for 
seven  dollars  per  day."  ^e   Here,  too,  came  the  return- 
ing miners  to  spend  their  money  or,  more  often,  to  earn 
enough  at  day  labor  to  carry  them  through  the  winter. 
The  roadstead  between  the  port  and  Contra  Costa 
was  crowded  with  ships  which,   deserted  by  their 
crews  or  unable  to  obtain  a  return  cargo,  lay  swing- 
ing idly  at  anchor.     Some  of  these  vessels  were  util- 
ized as  living  quarters.     The  little  bay  was  alive 
with  rowboats,  scows,  and  lighters,  plying  between 
the  inhabited  vessels  and  the  shore.     The  boatmen 
began  by  charging  a  S2  fare,  but  in  so  doing  they 
overreached  themselves.     "Intercourse  between  the 
shipping  and  town  is  so  costly  and  inconvenient, 
that    judiciously    assorted    shops,    constructed    on 
lighters,  ply  amongst  the  fleet,  to  supply  those  vari- 


(;: 


1     I 


f  1 


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!  ( 


I 


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(I      i       ..4: 


,} 


.•>TT' 


11  1 

II 

i:; 


.  I 


.■  I 


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»/■' 

^^;i 


278 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


ous  wants  that  it  would  not  be  worth  while  to  go 
ashore  for  at  the  expense  of  two  dollars.""  In  vain 
the  ferrymen  protested  against  the  innovation. 
Even  the  day  of  the  floating  shop  was  brief.  Al- 
ready piers  were  being  built  out  into  deep  water  for 
the  accommodati-  i  of  ocean  steamers,  and  "sub- 
marine lots"  were  sold  in  anticipation  of  the  time 
when  the  crescent  harbor  would  be  filled  in  from  the 
sand-dunes  back  of  the  town.  At  one  of  the  wharves 
was  moored  a  thousand-ton  steamer,  and  the  owners 
had  fitted  her  up  with  offices  and  storage  room.  The 
rental  from  these  shabby  quarters  brought  them  in 
more  revenue  than  the  vessel  could  have  earned 
afloat.  The  value  of  real  estate  was  mounting  by 
leaps  and  bounds.  A  lot  purchased  for  $800  in  the 
spring  of  1848  sold  for  §8000  in  the  autumn.  The 
legal  rate  of  interest  was  fixed  at  ten  per  cent  per 
year  (1850),  but  the  actual  rate  ran  at  three  per  cent, 
four  per  cent,  and  even  five  per  cent  a  month. 

San  Francisco  was  the  creation  of  the  gold  craze. 
The  Golden  Gate  was  the  natural  avenue  to  the 
"diggings,"  for  the  eastern  arm  of  the  Bay  led  di- 
rectly to  the  navigable  rivers  of  the  interior,  and 
ship-loads  of  men  and  goods  were  transported  on 
river  steamers  to  the  interior  towns.  From  Sun 
Francisco,  too,  the  treasure  was  exported  to  New 
York,  London,  and  Canton,  and  this  exportation  tlid 
not  diminish  as  the  output  of  the  mines  slackened.^^ 
INIexican  silver,  moreover,  was  shipped  to  China  and 
East  India  more  speedily  and  cheaply  by  way  of  San 
Francisco  than  via  Southanipton.-- 
The  richest  and  most  accessible  diggings  were  soon 


L ' ' 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        279 

exhaused,  and  it  became  impossible  for  a  group  of 
laborers,  no  matter  how  skilful  or  well  organized,  to 
support   themselves  with  shovel,  pan,  and  rocker. 
Larger  companies  were  organized  to  turn  a  river  from 
its  bed  and  expose  new  deposits  or  to  build  a  reser- 
voir in  some  mountain  torrent  and  conduct  the  water 
by  flumes  and  ditches  to  "dry  diggings"  otherwise 
unworkable.^    This  necessitated  capital,  for  months 
must  often  be  spent  in  bringing  the  project  to  com- 
pletion.   Not  infrequently  a  group  of  men  lumped 
their  savings  and  built  a  ditch,  but  the  most  success- 
ful of  these  undertakings  were  put  through  by  entre- 
preneurs who  brought  in  capital  and  were  able  to  hire 
labor.      Water  companies  were  organized,  and  the 
sine  qua  non  of  placer  mining  was  sold  to  the  miners 
at  from  fifty  cents  to  $1  per  inch."    Such  enterprises 
were  highly  profitable,  paying  from  four  per  cent  to 
twenty  per  cent  and  even  forty  per  cent  per  month  on 
the  investment.'**    Provided  with  a  steady  stream  of 
water  which  could  be  used  during  the  drj'  season  and 
at  points  remote  from  the  rivers,  a  party  of  four  men 
could  take  out  from  S30  to  $100  worth  of  gold  per  day, 
and  could  therefore  afford  to  pay  $10  per  day  for  water. 
The  "long  tom"  —  an  improved  rocker  —  or  the  sluice 
was  used  in  the  later  years  of  placer  mining,  and  the 
"tailings"  scraped  from  the  cleats  at  the  end  of  the 
day's  work  were  subjected  to  the  quicksilver  process, 
so  that  the  minutest  particles  of  gold  were  extracted. 
The  next  improvement,  introduced  in  1851,  was  to 
wash  out  the  "pay"  dirt  by  hydraulic  r>ower.    One 
hose  and  pipe  did  the  work  of  twelve  men,  at  one- 
fourth  the  cost;   but  an  abundant  supply  of  water 


t  I 


j:^ 


'    <;  ;  ■'■ 


■;  k. 


I  t 


\   w 


'i  f 


if 


,■  I,: 


;H; 


iiV; 


Cft 


;  h 


280 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


under  heavy  pressure  was  necessary,  and  ihe  hy- 
draulic process  could  be  undertaken  only  by  com- 
panies with  considerable  capital. 

The  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  the  industry  was 
the  excavation  of  the  quartz  rock.^'^  The  first  deei) 
mining  was  attempted  before  machinery  could  l)o 
brought  to  bear.  These  amateur  efforts  were  calkMl 
"cayote  holes,"  and  the  ore  brought  up  was  crusiicd 
by  a  roller  drawn  over  a  stone  pavement,  a  primiti\e 
device  introduced  by  the  Mexican  miner.  As  soon 
as  machinery  could  be  got  in,  shafts  were  driven  and 
timbered  and  stamp-mills  erected,  and  the  business 
of  quartz  mining  was  well  under  way. 

Each  step  in  this  evolution  meant  the  increasing 
use  of  capital,  the  necessity  for  directing  and  organ- 
izing ability,  and  the  subordination  of  labor.  The 
tendency  was  bitterly  proteste<i  by  the  "forty- 
niners,"  who  held  that  the  golden  opportunity  be- 
longed to  everx'  American  citizen  and  should  not  be 
monopolized.  But  the  day  of  the  self-employed 
miner  was  past.  ''  V  year  or  two  more  will  suffice  to 
exhau-t  most  of  'he  metal  which  is  readily  accessible  ; 
aftf'r  which,  a  riz  will  so  s(>idom  be  met  with,  to 
sustain  the  ho[-  -  tli'  p,  riv  rewarded  gold-digger, 
tha-  he  will  fir  -  -  ii    ^^r"st  to  work  at  moderate 

wjiees  or  th— -  ^r-i=_  ir-  i^issessed  of  the  refHiisite 
me:i  '-.  -idr  srnz  Rno^^f^ur*-  to  manage  the  business 
'Hf-i'irii-'^  TT^™  w^z  r^ivide  comfortable  home- 
for  ■:io>-  wTjom  rht*T-  -friT^ioy.  .  .  .  When  that  shall 
hapi^fn.  mos*  >i  "i>^  zmand  which  had  been  previ- 
ous'  sfTtUfT":  '''^^  w:  J  h(>  sv^temaiicaily  woikt'ii 
a.g;i;   ."'^      :r?viref:»sfu    ai-art:;  mining   could    not   be 


sim^--^u^ 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         281 

carried  on,  however,  until  good  government  and  se- 
cure titles  were  assured,  wages  and  living  expenses 
had  declined,  and  adequate  capital  with  appropriate 
machinery  had  been  brought  into  the  country. 

The  mining  code  devised  by  the  men  first  in  the 
field  —  whether   by   unwritten   agreement  between 
partners  or  by  the  more  or  less  formal  conclusions  of 
a  miners'  convention  — was  most  democratic.     The 
universally  recounized  principle  allowed  every  man 
the  usufruct  of  as  much  land  as  he  could  work  to 
advantage,  and  (lie  dimensions   of  a  claim   varied 
from  ten  to  one  hundred  feet  square  according  to  the 
quality  of  the  "dirt,"  the  difficulty  of  working,  and 
the  number  of  miners  in  the  field.     The  discoverer 
of  the  bar  was.  however,  entitled  to  first  choice  and 
to  double  the  usual  portion."^   A  man's  title  held  only 
so  long  as  he  worked  the  claim.     A  certain  amount 
of  earth  must  be  taken  out  f-ach  week,  and  an  ab- 
sence of  five  consecutive  days  might  entail  forfeiture. 
The  claim,  if  it  proved  valuable,  was  staked  out,  and 
a  notice  of  ownership  posted ;   but  a  tool  left  on  the 
^pot  was  sufficient  evidence  of  occupation.     By  1851 
there   were   notaries   at   the   principal   camps,   and 
thereafter  titles  were  officially  recorded  and  might 
1)0  legally  transferred,  formal  witnesses  being  required 
for  the  validity  of  the  transaction.     Originally  no 
man  might  hold  more  than  one  claim;  but  purchase 
made  possible  the  ownership  of  considerable  tracts. 
Notwithstanding  the  recommendations  of  Governor 
Alason  and  Butler  King.  Congress  imposed  no  roy- 
alty and  took  no  measures  looking  to  the  survey 
and  sale  of  the  mineral  lands.     By    1852   quartz 


I  I 


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.1 


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I    ■■ 


i'l 


^'i  ( 


'   '     t' 


■  ! 


! 


it       '         ,'J 
t       >   I     ■•.  ■ 


i  ! 


282 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


f 


claims  were  regulated  by  the  several  county  conven- 
tions. In  Nevada  County,  one  hundred  feet  along 
the  ledge  was  allotted  to  one  claim,  including  "all 
dips,  spurs,  angles  and  variations"  ;  in  Sierra  County, 
two  hundred  feet.  Each  claim  was  staked  and  reg- 
istered, and  work  to  the  extent  of  $100  must  be  put 
in  every  year  until  the  operating  company  was  formed 
and  a  stamp-mill  costing  at  least  $5000  was  con- 
tracted for  in  good  faith.  Then  a  deed  guaranteeing 
undisturbed  possession  was  granted  by  the  county 
authorities.  When  the  United  States  surrendered 
to  the  state  of  California  title  to  all  the  mines  of 
gold  and  silver  within  its  boundaries,  these  customs 
were  enacted  into  law.  Their  democratic  provisions 
lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  subsequent  legislation  on 
the  part  of  (Congress  and  the  legislatures  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  states. 

The  feeling  against  hired  labor  in  the  diggings  was 
originally  very  strong,  and  the  taking  up  of  claims 
on  behalf  of  employees  was  ruled  out.  The  pre- 
judice against  foreigners  arose  in  part  out  of  tho 
attempt  of  moneyed  men  to  introduce  gangs,  not  only 
of  Indians  and  negro  slaves,  but  of  Kanakas,  Chi- 
nere,  and  Malays  into  the  field.  But  the  agitation 
did  not  stop  at  hired  laborers.  No  sooner  had  if 
become  evident  that  the  field  was  limited,  and  that 
there  would  not  be  room  for  all  comers,  than  tho 
American  miners  demandeu  that  the  diggings  be  re- 
served for  hofin  fide  citizens  of  the  TTnited  States,  and 
that  all  foreigners  ho  excluded.  In  the  spring  of  184i>, 
there  v-f^r^  fiftf^n  thfrn^and  alions  in  the  southorn 
field.      Mexicans,  Chilians,  and  Peruvians  for  the 


I 


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■•77%»mKM-'y 


<mmmmmmi!msgmm 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        283 

most  part.  The  attempt  to  drive  them  out  by  force 
and  fraud  was  so  far  successful  that  the  number  was  re- 
duced to  five  thousand  before  the  season  closed.  The 
Irish  and  German  miners  were  even  more  ruthless  than 
the  Missourians  in  their  enmity  against  "greasers" 
and  Kanakas.  The  movement  extended  to  the  towns, 
notably  San  Francisco,  where  the  "Hounds"  organ- 
ized to  rid  the  place  of  Mexicans  and  the  native  Cali- 
fornians,  with  whom  they  were  contused. 

In  deference  to  this  anti-foreign  feeling  of  the  miners 
—  then  the  most  influential  class  in  the  state  —  the 
first  legislature  passed  (1850)  the  Foreign  Miners'  Tax 
Law  requiring  of  all  miners,  not  citizens  or  natives 
of  California,  licenses  for  which  a  fee  of  $20  per 
month  must  be  paid.  Non-compliance  was  punish- 
able by  expulsion.  This  law  was  repealed  in  the 
following  year,  but  a  charge  of  $3  and  later  $4  per 
month  was  substituted.  Even  so,  collection  of  the 
tax  was  not  infrequently  attended  by  outbreaks  and 
general  disorder.  The  collectors  were  paid  a  com- 
mission of  ten,  fifteen,  and  even  twenty  per  cent  of  the 
proceeds,  and  they  were  prone  to  extort  money  fraud- 
ulently from  the  weak  and  defenceless.  The  fee  was 
rarely  demanded  of  English,  Irish,  or  German  mincTs, 
but  no  dark-skinned  race  escaped.  Edouurd  Auger 
recounts  that  some  French  miners,  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  diverting  the  flow  of  the  Stanislaus  River, 
were  driven  from  the  spot  by  a  party  of  Mormons, 
and  several  of  them  were  killed.  Borthwick  records 
a  similar  occurrence  on  the  Mariposa.  The  effect  of 
this  unjust  legislation  and  the  inio"itous  practices 
permitted  in  its  execution  was  to  \:    mote  anarchy 


li 


i'    ! 


'     .f 


.'.-••Hl'''t/i-f 


1 


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.'     • 


,!     i  ,  J 


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1  !     I'   h  I 


.1  H  ^^ 


.VE!^:^<i..C=.-3  - 


284 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


m 


in  the  diggings  and  to  drive  the  outraged  foreigners 
to  lawless  retaliation.  The  Mexicans  usually  re- 
fused to  pay  the  fee  and  abandoned  the  mines  in  a 
body,  while  the  better  class  of  foreigners,  notably 
those  with  property,  were  deterred  from  coming  to 
California.  In  San  Francisco,  Stockton,  Sacra- 
mento, and  the  mining  towns,  their  absence  was  folt 
as  a  serious  check  to  trade,  and  the  merchants  and 
hotel  proprietors  as  well  as  the  employing  class  pro- 
tested that  ruin  was  in  store.  It  was  this  influence 
that  brought  about  the  abatement  of  the  tax.^ 

Section  VII 

Financial  Depression  and  the  Revival  of  Normal 
Industries 

As  tho  placer  mines  were  gradually  exhausted,  the 
earnings  of  the  miners  dwindled  year  by  year.  The 
returns  of  1848  were  phenomenal,  and  many  of  the 
first  comers  realized  two  or  three  ounces  per  day  for 
the  mining  season.  Conservative  estimates  for  18-10 
give  $8  as  the  average  earnings  per  man  per  day. 
This  average  fell  to  $Oin  1850.  S4  in  1851,  and  $1  in 
1852.  It  was  then  generally  conceded  tliat  a  man  could 
oarn  more  at  day's  wages  in  any  other  pursuit .  But  for 
the  introduction  of  machinery  and  the  development 
of  hydrauHc  and  quartz  mining,  the  gold  fields  woiii.i 
have  been  abandoned  perforce.  Even  so,  the  tot;il 
output  fell  off.  It  had  been  .f5,(K)(),(M)()  in  1S4S. 
rose  to  $40,000,(K)0  in  '49.  to  .r>(),lH>(),00()  in  '50,  to 
$t)0,OtK),0{)0  in  "51 .  and  $t;5,{){H},{KK)  in  '53.  Th"!s 
the  tide  turned.     The  ret  urns  dropped  to  .S0O,O()O.(MH) 


i  ! 


^^j 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         285 

in  '54  and  to  S55,000,000  in  '55.  Since  gold  was 
practically  the  only  product  of  California  and  had 
superseded  all  other  exports,  this  shrinkage  of 
$10,000,000  in  two  years  produced  a  financial  revo- 
lution. The  number  of  immigrants  sharply  declined 
from  58,000  in  1854  to  29,000  in  '55  and  23,000  in  '57. 
The  miners  who  had  the  wherewithal  to  pay  for  trans- 
portation left  the  country,"  and  those  who  had 
nothing  laid  by,  flocked  to  the  towns  in  search  of 
employment.  The  effect  for  the  merchants,  hotel 
proprietors,  saloon,  and  gambling-house  keepers, 
who  had  been  making  fortunes  by  purveying  to  the 
spendthrift  gold-diggers,  was  disastrous. 

The  sudden  collapse  of  business  was  felt  especially 
in  San  Francisco,  the  center  of  trade  and  the  focus  of 
all  the  mad  speculation  of  the  past  five  years.     The 
market  was  glutted  with  goods  brought  in  by  the 
clipper  ships,  and  valuable  cargoes  were  sold  at  a 
loss  or  left  to  rot  unsheltered  oii  the  wharves.     Ware- 
houses and  office  buildings  stood  empty,  and  rentals 
that  had  paid  from  three  hundred  to  one  thousand  per 
cent  on  the  original  investment,  dwindled  till  they  did 
not  meet  running  expenses.     The  value  of  real  estate 
shrank  to  one-half  or  one-third,  land  would  not  sell 
at  any  price,  and  mortgagef)rs  lost  heavily.     Foreign 
investors  todk  fright,  began  to  look  into  their  C  ali- 
fornia  stock,  and  faced  failure.     The  rates  of  interest 
dropped  from  five  per  cent  a  month  to  two  and  three 
per  cent  even  with  good  security,  and  there  was  a 
sudden  halt  in  the  influx  of  capital.     But  a  small 
fr...rtion  of  the-  .'515i;,(KK},{)0{)  worth  i.f  gold  produced 
ill   the  country   between   1848  and   i85(»  remained 


t 


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I  I 


i 


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286 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


there,  and  this  residue  was  not  available  capital,  — 
was  not  even  legal  currency.^*  Seyd  estimates  that 
of  the  maximum  output  of  1853,  $40,000,000  was 
exported  in  payment  for  goods,  $10,000,000  as  inter- 
est on  foreign  capital,  and  $15,000,000  was  carried 
away  by  returning  miners. 

That  the  more  risky  ventures  should  come  to 
nothing  was  inevitable,   but  business  foundations 
were  shaken  by  the  sudden  revelation  of  fraud  and 
peculation  on  a  gigantic  scale.     Henry  Meigs,   a 
prominent  business  man  who  had  been  involved  in 
the  North  Beach  land  speculation,  had  made  use  of 
his  intimate  relations  with  the  city  government  to 
forge  vouchers  for  drafts  on  the  municipal  treasury 
under  cover  of  his  numerous  street  contracts.     When 
exposure   became   inevitable,  he   fled   the   country, 
leaving  debts  to  the  amount  of  $800,000,  and  his 
defalcation   involved    many    of   his   creditors   and 
indorsers.     There  were  seventy-seven  bankruptcies 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1854,  and  the  liabilities  ran 
up  into  the  miUions.    On  February  17,  1855,  the 
Panama  steamer  brought  news  of  the  failure  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railway,  and  it  was  learned 
that  Page  &  Bacon,  a  branch  of  the  St.  Louis  House, 
had  sent  home  $2,000,000  in  gold  to  stave  ofif  ruin.     A 
run  on  the  bank  followed,  and  on  February  23  the 
proprietors  wore  obliged  to  suspend.     The  effect  of 
the   failure   of   this   leading   bank    was   disastrous. 
There  were  ono  hundred  and  ninety-seven  bankrupt- 
cies in  San  Francisco  in  1S55,  with  liabilities  amount- 
ing to  S8,000,(K)0,  and  few  people  escaped  heavy  Ioh.-. 
No  failure  was  so  widely  felt  and  so  disastrous  in  its 


^^b7^ 


THE  COJ^QUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        2S7 

ultimate  effects  as  that  of  Adams  and  Company's 
Express,  founded  by  Alvin  Adams  of  the  Adams 
Express  Company  of  New  York.  The  firm  had  agen- 
cies in  Sacramento  and  Stockton,  and  had  bought 
out  the  local  expresses  and  established  messenger 
service  to  every  considerable  mining  camp  in  the 
northern  and  southern  fields.  They  had  opened  a 
bank  in  San  Francisco  and  branch  banks  in  the  in- 
terior towns,  and  they  shipped  more  gold  to  New  York 
than  any  other  house  in  California.  The  collapse  of 
this  mammoth  concern  ruined  thousands  (if  men  in 
every  district  of  the  gold  fields,  and  the  disaster 
seemed  universal. 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  panic  was  to  prostrate 
all  industry  and  to  produce  in  the  minds  of  foreign 
and  Eastern  investors  a  wholesale  distrust  of  every- 
thing Californian.     The  ultimate  effect  was  to  put  all 
business  on  a  firmer,  because  more  rational,  basis. 
The  speculative  mania  was  silenced  for  the  time 
being ;  visionary  projects  for  paying  high  dividends 
on  the  basis  of  unknown  mineral  deposes  and  experi- 
mental machinery  could  no  longer  deceive  the  pu!>lic. 
The  idle,  vicious,  and  vagabond  element  deserted  the 
mining  camps  and  was  soon  drained  off  to  Australia 
(1852),  Frazer's  River   (1858),  and  Nevada(18oO), 
in  pursuit  of  the.se  new  opportunities  to  pick  up 
a  fortune  without  labor.     The  men  who  remained 
in  the  mines  had  learned  that  hore,  as  in  older  coun- 
tries, the  price  of  success  was  hard  work  and  unre- 
mitting attention  to  scientific  methods  of  develoiiing 
the  latent  supply  of  gold.     Henceforth  the  requisite 
machinery   was   manufactured   in  California,  more 


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288 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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cheaply  than  it  could  be  imported,  and  on  models 
much  better  adapted  to  local  conditions.  The  labor 
no  longer  needed  in  the  mines  was  diverted  to  agri- 
culture, and  camp  supplies  began  to  be  produced  at 
home;  bread-stuffs,  meat,  lumber,  beer,  whiskey, 
sugar,  shoes,  woollen  shirts,  and  blankets  were  soon 
turned  out,  of  a  quality  that  enabled  them  to  com- 
pete with  Eastern  goods,  and  sufficient  in  quantity  to 
supply  the  market. 

The  output  of  the  gold  district  continued  to  de- 
cline, falling  to  §50,000,000  in  1858  and  to  $45,000,000 
in  1860.  During  the  decade  of  the  Civil  War  there 
was  a  shrinkage  from  year  to  year,  till  in  1868  the 
nadir  point  of  §22,000,000  was  reached.  But  luck- 
ily for  the  business  men  of  California,  other  mineral 
wealth  was  brought  to  light.  The  Comstock  Lode 
was  discovered  just  beyond  the  crest  of  the  Sierras, 
and  these  rich  mines  yielded  $80,000,000  worth  of 
silver  between  1859  and  1869.  All  the  bullion  was 
exported  via  San  Francisco,  and  most  of  the  "bo- 
nanza kings"  elected  to  spend  their  money  in  the 
towns  about  the  Bay.  Veins  of  cinnabar  had  been 
found  in  the  Coast  Range  above  the  Santa  Clara 
Valley  by  the  mission  fathers,  and  a  little  quicksilver 
taken  out.  Alexander  Forbes,  who  succeeded  to  their 
rights,  had  been  working  the  deposits  for  twenty 
yars,  but  in  primitive  and  costly  fashion.  The  ore 
was  carried  out  of  the  pit  in  rawhide  sacks  on  tlie 
backs  of  Indians  and  transported  in  wooden-wheeled 
carts  to  furnaces  situated  in  the  valley,  where  wood 
and  water  were  uvailu})lo.  It  was  there  roasted  in 
chambers  formed  of  trying  kettles  purchased  from  tlie 


•Txaseoi^  (^^si^fiag'ii^^.'x^i'^SHi^^EamniPija^. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        289 

whalers,  and  the  volatilized  mercury  was  chilled  in 
another    chamber    of    like    construction.    Forbes' 
daily  output  was  328  pounds,  and  the  metal  was 
shipped  to  Mazatlan,  where  it  sold  for  $1.80  per  pound. 
Under  the  American  regime,  modern  apphances  were 
introduced,  and  the  yield  at  New  Almaden  increased 
to  23,740  flasks  (75  lb.  each)  in  1856  and  43,000  in 
1864,  —  enough  to  supply  the  demand  created  by  the 
gold  and  silver  smelters  of  the  Sierras  and  to  admit 
of  large  exportations  besides.     The  pools  of  natural 
asphalt  at  Los  Angeles  had  been  long  utilized  by  the 
pobladores  for  smearing  the  roofs  of  their  houses. 
The  bitumen  was  now  scientifically  worked  and  came 
into  general  use.    The  salt  marshes  about  the  Bay 
furnished  another  opening  for  business  enterprise, 
since  the  long,  dry  summers  were  well  suited  to 
evaporation. 

Possessed  of  the  best  port  on  the  Pacific,  vis-^-vis 
to  the  Orient  recently  opened  by  treaty  to  American 
trade,  the  commercial  opportunities  of  California  were 
unexcelled.     In  1856,  in  the  midst  of  the  financial 
depression,  her  exports,  other  than  bullion,  amounted 
to  $4,000,000,  and  of  this  sum  total,  more  than  one- 
fourth  was  made  up  of  bread-stuffs  and  lumber  sent 
to  the  gold  fields  of  Australia.     Whalers'  supplies 
to  the  value  of  $250,000  were  despatched  to  the  mer- 
chants of  Honolulu,  while  to  the  British  and  Russian 
fur  traders  in  the  north  Pacific  more  than  $150,000 
worth  of  goods  was  consigned.     The  return  cargoes 
--horses    and    hogs  from    the    Sandwich  Islands, 
ice  from  Sitka,  and  coal  from  Bellingham  —  proved 
liighly    profitable    importations.      Helper,    one   of 

VOL.  11  —  U 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


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the  disgruntled  gold-seekers,  had  summed  up  his 
impressions  of  California  thus:  "Her  spacious  har- 
bors and  geographical  position  are  her  true  wealth ; 
her  gold  fields  and  arid  hills  are  her  poverty."  *»  San 
Francisco  was  still  the  principal  port  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  and  its  commerce,  reduced  to  a  rational  basis, 
bade  fair  to  increase  with  the  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  country. 

The  Panama  Railway  was  completed  in  1855, 
reducing  the  distance  between  San  Francisco  and 
New  York  to  5700  miles  and  the  time  to  twenty-five 
days.  Until  the  completion  of  the  transcontinental 
railway,  all  the  passengers  and  the  fast  freight  from 
the  Eastern  states  came  by  this  route,  and  the 
round-the-Horn  voyage  was  abandoned  for  all  but 
slow  freight.  A  steamer  cleared  from  Panama  twice 
a  month,  and  was  sighted  off  Point  Lobos  with  the 
regularity  of  a  ferry-boat.  The  return  steamer  sailed 
on  the  fifth  and  twentieth  of  each  month,  and  for  fif- 
teen years ' '  steamer  day ' '  was  a  business  event.  The 
preparation  of  the  cargoes,  the  assembling  of  the 
$2,000,000  in  gold  shipped  to  New  York,  the  getting 
ready  of  the  mail  for  the  East,  involved  an  amount  of 
labor  that  absorbed  the  energies  of  half  the  men  in 
the  town.  San  Francisco  was  the  point  at  which  cen- 
tered all  the  industrial  activities  of  the  state,  and  its 
commerce  rivalled  that  of  Boston.  It  was  the  ter- 
minus of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  the 
California  Steam  Navigation  Company— a  corporation 
that  monopoHzed  the  river  traffic  —  the  California 
and  Pioneer  Stage  Company,  the  Adams  and  Wells 
Fargo  Express  companies.    Here  were  the  great  banks 


11 


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View  frniii  KiiKcri   Point. 


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TfiE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        291 

and  the  great  commercial  houses.  The  population  uf 
San  Francisco  was  one-fourth  that  of  the  state,  and 
half  the  taxes  of  California  were  levied  upon  her  prop- 
erty-holders. 

Agriculture 

Tyson  protested  that  "the  proportion  of  labor  em- 
ployed for  digging  gold  .  .  .  was  altogether  too  great 
for  the  true  interest  of  either  California  or  the  older 
states,"  ^°  and  called  attention  to  the  agricultural  re- 
sources in  which  he  believed  the  real  wealth  of  the 
country  consisted.  "  If  the  talents,  means,  and  labor 
already  misapplied  in  preparations  for  mining  and 
grinding  quartz  had  been  devoted  to  agriculture  and 
other  pursuits  adapted  to  the  country,  it  would  have 
been  better  for  all  parties."  The  gold  mania  had 
blinded  men's  eyes  to  the  surer  profits  to  be  deri\rd 
from  producing  more  useful  commodities. 

There  were  a  few  exceptions.  Sutter,  for  f  xaniple, 
hoped  to  operate  his  sawmill  and  supply  lumber  for 
the  rapidly  building  mining  towns,  to  harvest  his 
wheat  and  pack  flour  to  the  "diggings,"  to  make  up 
in  his  tannery  and  workshops  the  leather  and  slioes 
and  woollen  blankets  n(^eded  by  the  miners.  He  had  a 
magnificent  opportunity,  but  his  well-laid  plans  were 
swept  into  ruin  by  the  tidal  wave  of  gold-seekers.  It 
was  impossible  to  hold  laborers  to  such  humdrum 
tasks,  with  the  lure  of  the  "diggings"  close  at  hand. 
The  grain  was  left  to  rot  in  the  fields,  the  workshops 
wore  abandoned,  the  mills  stood  idle,  the  hungry  emi- 
grants slaughtered  Sutter's  cattle,  led  off  his  horses, 
and  squatted  on  his  land.     His  fort  proved  to  be  too 


'V 

ir     'I 

H    I        ! 

;  i  -1 


292  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

far  from  the  Sacramento  for  convenience,  and  trade 
gravitated  to  the  Embarcadero  three  miles  below. 
Disgusted  with  the  ingratitude  of  the  Americans,  the 
some-time  friend  of  the  overlanders  moved  to  Hock 
Farm,  eleven  miles  below  MarysviUe,  where  he  spent 
the  renmant  of  his  fortune  in  a  vain  defence  of  his 
title.     John  Bidwell,  Sutter's  former  lieutenant,  was 
more  fortunate.     He  had  acquired  a  grant  of  twenty 
thousand  acres  on  Butte  Creek  and  was  growing  wheat 
and   fruit  with   marked   success.     Other  American 
ranchmen   located  along  the  emigrant  road   were 
making  fortunes  by  selling  provisions  to  the  prairie 
schooners.     Eggs   were    sold    at    twenty-five    .'ents 
apiece,  milk  at  $1  per  quart,      .d  butter  at  $4  per 
pound.     The  way-worn  cattle  and  mules  were  bought 
at  bottom  prices  and  fattened  for  the  market .     Where 
the  immigrant  would  not  sell,  the  obliging  ranchcro 
undertook  to  pasture  his  animals  at  S2  a  head,  charg- 
ing S2  additional  for  insurance  against  theft.     The 
farmers  of  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  also  were  busily 
engaged  in  "skimming  the  cream  off  the  diggings." 
They  were  raising  barlc^y,  vegetables,  and  fruit,  luxu- 
ries for  which  there  was  a  never-failing  demand  in  tlie 
mining  camps.     In  the  San  Jomiuin  the  droves  nf 
wild  horses  furnished  a  short  cut  to  wealth.     They 
were  trapped  in  corrals,  lassoed,  and  <lri\en  to  th.- 
nearest  town,  where  they  brought  S4()  or  $')()  apiece. 
Mule  teams  were  worth  «3(M)  and  fat  cattle  ?3()  per 
head.      A    butcher's    apprentice,    Henry    Miller  of 
Wurtemberg.  arrived    in  San  Francisco  (isr)())  on  a 
(Jerman  steamer,  looked  about,  and  saw  hi^clianct  ti, 
make  money.     He  bought  asteerof  axMexic:uu'»7»rn» 


^Kt^SS.^" 


•jm?!eif^^-'is^ 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        293 

and  opened  a  meat  shop.  Other  Mexicans  brought 
him  more  steers,  for  wliich  he  paid  $5  ai)ieoe  without 
asking  where  they  were  found.  So  he  gradually  built 
up  a  flourishing  business.  Later  Miller  fenced  large 
tracts  of  land  along  the  San  Joaquin  River  and  raised 
his  own  cattle,  always  with  the  aid  of  the  Mexicans, 
whose  loyalty  to  a  patron  made  them  reliable  herders, 
and  by  an  amendment  to  the  Homestead  Act  exempt- 
ing fenced  lands  and  swamp  lands  from  homestead 
entry,  he  came  into  possession  of  great  estates  rival- 
ling those  of  the  Spanish  rnncherus}^ 

The   necessity   for   transporting   supplies    to   th(, 
mines  had  placed  a  premium  on  the  raising  of  horses 
and  mules,  ft)r  oxen  were  too  slow  and  cumbersome 
for  the  mountain  trails.     Tradition  has  it   that   the 
California  horses  were  of  Arab  stock  ;  certainly  they 
had  many  good  points.     For  herding  cattle  and  for 
hard  riding  they  could  not  be  surpassed,  but  th(>y 
were  too  slight  and  vicious  for  driving  or  for  farm 
work.     The  Americans  brought  in  some  Kentucky 
Morgans  and  s(mie  Knglish  racing  blood  ;  a   marked 
improvement  in  the  breed  followed,  and  excellent 
roadsters  were   developed.      A   few    horse   breeders 
imi)orte(l  Cly<lesdale  stallions  and  produced  draught 
animals  of  a  weight  and  strength  hardly  inferior  (o 
llie  English.''-     By  1870  three-fourths  of  the  horses 
ill  the  state  were  of  mixed  blood,  not  so  licalthy  and 
eiiduring  as  the  Mexican  stock,  but   larger,  hand- 
somer, and  more  docile.     The  mares  ntid  stallions 
i-till  ran  in  nuinndns  or  studs,  and  the  animals  desired 
for  use  or  salo  v.nvr  ^-orrnikMi  and  !a;.soctl  and  l)rokrn 
to  harness  by  the  rough,  old-time  methods.     Since 


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294 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


the  range  was  free  and  no  food  or  shelter  had  to  be 
provided,  a  horse  ranch  was  sure  to  bring  in  money. 
California  was  the  best  of  cattle  lands.    The  wild 
oats  that  covered  the  hillsides  made  an  inexpen- 
sive natural  fodder,  little  less  nutritious  than  the 
cultivated  oats  of  the  Eastern  states.    The  "filaree" 
had  spread  from  the  south  to  the  north  coasts  and 
back  into  the  interior,  and  furnished  a  rank,  rich 
pasturage  and  an  ungamered  harvest  of  seeds  that 
blackened  the  ground  and  afforded  a  much-needed 
autumn  feed.    Bunch-grass  cured  on  the  stalk  in 
the  foot-hills  and  made  an  excellent  winter  fodder. 
The  equable  temperature  rendered  barns  unneces- 
sary, even  in  winter,  and  pasture  land  required  no 
fencing,  since  the  law  made  the  owner  of  tilled  fields 
responsible  for  this  precaution.    The  mild  climate 
was  highly  favorable  to  breeding,  and  the  fecundity 
of    all    domestic    animals    astonished    new-comers. 
Cows,  mares,  and  ewes  matured  a  year  earlier  than 
in  the  East,  and  bore  more  frequently.    There  were, 
moreover,  few  of  the  diseases  that  afflicted  the  herds 
of  older  countries.    Horses  and  cattle  fed  on  the 
open  range,  i-.oving  from  the  valleys  to  the  hill  pas- 
tures  with  the  advance  of  the  season.    Twice  each 
year,  once  in  the  spring  and  again  in  the  autumn,  the 
herds  of  a  given  district  wore  rounded  up  in  groat 
rodeos.    Then    every    ranchman    selected    his   own 
colts  and  calves,  branded  them  and  turned  them 
out  on  the  range  for  another  season.    The  several 
brands  were  kept  on  view  at  the  county  reconU is 
office,  and  afforded  the  sole  evidence  of  proprietor- 
ship. 


^fj^ir:^ 


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*^:2raar5««';:23^7£SS^j9PsrrT«(^,^^ 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         295 

The  life  of  the  rancho  did  not  differ  much  from 
that  of  the  Spanish  era.  The  vaqueros  were,  for  the 
most  part,  native  CaHfornians  or  Indians,  and  the 
cattle  were  of  the  old  long-horned,  scrawny  Spanish 
breed.  Some  blooded  stock,  Durham  and  Devon, 
had  been  driven  across  the  Plains,  and  the  inter- 
mingling had  brought  up  the  weight  and  quality  of 
the  animals  to  a  marked  degree.  Cattle  were  no 
longer  bred  for  hides  and  tallow  merely,  but  for 
abattoir  and  dairy  purposes  as  well,  and  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  more  fortunes  were  won  from  cattle  than 
from  gold.  The  Coast  counties,  where  the  fogs  kept 
the  pastures  green  throughout  the  year,  were  still 
the  "cow  counties,"  and  the  dairy  interest  centered 
about  the  Bay ;  but  the  ranges  of  the  upper  San 
Joaquin  —  Fresno,  Merced,  Tulare,  and  Kern  coun- 
ties—  fed  fully  one-third  of  the  cattle  of  the  state. 
Here,  during  the  spring  and  summer,  pasture  was 
abundant,  but  the  fall  months  from  October  to  Janu- 
ary brought  serious  difficulty.  If  precipitation  had 
been  scant  the  preceding  sea.son,  the  pasture  was  likely 
to  fail.  Early  autumn  rains  were  almost  equally 
disastrous,  for  they  drenched  the  dried  grass  and 
deprived  it  of  nutriment.  In  either  case  a  consider- 
able number  of  cattle  died  of  starvation.  During 
the  drought  of  1858,  seventy  thousand  catth'  per- 
ished in  the  south  alone.  The  drought  of  1803-1804 
carried  off  between  two  anil  three  hundred  thousand 
cattle  —  two-thirds  of  the  herds  of  the  southern 
counties  —  and  cattle-raising  dropped  to  the  second 
and  third  and  fourth  rank  in  the  scale  of  industrial 
interest.^'     The  native  pasturage  came  to  be  rcganled 


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296 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


as  an  uncertain  reliance,  and  men  who  had  suitable 
soil  supplemented  it  by  cultivated  fodders,— bar- 
ley, etc.  Many  of  the  great  ranches  were  divided 
and  sold  to  farmers.  The  mountain  ranges  were 
converted  into  sheep  runs. 

The  conditions  for  sheep-raising  were  ideal;  the 
mild  winters,  the  dry  lambing  season,  the  abundant 
mountain  pasture,  the  absence  of  foot-rot  and  other  dis- 
eases, made  possible  an  extraordinarily  rapid  increase 
at  minimum  cost.    An  annual  increment  of  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  per  cent  could  be  reckoned 
on.    The  only  serious   drawbacks   were   the   burr 
clover,  which  injured  the  wool  and  enhanced  the 
expense  of  cleaning  it,  and  the  coyotes  that  preyed 
upon  the  flocks  and  carried  off  the  lambs.     It  was 
necessary  that  the  flock  should  be  shepherded  by 
day  and  corralled  at  night,  but  since  one  Mexican 
pastor  could  take  care  of  a  thousand  sheep,  this  was 
not  a  heavy  itei.i.     There  were  few  sheep  in  Califor- 
nia in  1846.     Several  flocks  were  driven  in  from 
New  Mexico  by  the  early  American  immigrants,  but 
they  were  of  degenerate  breed  with  long  necks  and 
slim  bodies,  endowed  with  an  excess  of  horn  and  a 
short, coarse,  and  scanty  fleece,  and  produced  but  little 
mutton  or  wool.    The  importation  of  some  Freiuli 
and  Spanish  merinos,  also  Southdowns  antl  Cotswolds, 
quickly  brought  up  th(>  standard.     The  first  man  to 
undertake  this  business  began  in  1853  with  nine  hun- 
dred ewes.     Within  ten  years  he  had  ten  thousand 
sheep,  sixteen  thousand  acres  of  land,   and  other 
property  to  the  value  uf  SUM\0{X).     W«>r;l-gn>wi?5g 
was,  for  some  time  after  the  drought  of  1803-1804, 


/^i^-»J 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        297 

the  most  profitable  industry  in  California.  The  wool 
was  of  high  quality  (selling  for  twenty-three  cents 
a  pound  with  an  average  yield  of  four  pounds  and  two 
ounces),  and  brought  in  a  steady  revenue.  The  ex- 
pense of  maintenance  on  the  large  ranches  was  not 
more  than  thirty  to  fifty  cents  a  head,  but  half  the 
value  of  the  fleece.  Fleece  and  Iamb  together,  a  fine 
blooded  ewe  repaid  eight  or  ten  times  the  cost  of  her 
keep.^* 

Tillage  did  not  keep  pace  with  the  grazing  inter- 
ests for  several  obvious  reasons.  Timber  was  scarce, 
and  the  cost  of  fencing  cultivated  fields  against  the 
roving  herds  of  cattle  and  horses  was  well-nigh  pro- 
hibitory. Not  till  after  the  drought  of  1862-1864  had 
ruined  many  of  the  stock-ranches  did  the  interest 
of  the  farmer  become  dominant  in  the  legislature. 
Then  the  free  range  was  curtailed  and  finally  abol- 
ished, and  the  law  required  that  pastures  be  fenced. 
The  alternation  of  wet  and  dry  seasons  was  an  un- 
known and  appalling  phenomenon  to  the  Ea'^terners. 
The  winter  rains  flooded  the  bottom  lands  and  satu- 
rated the  ground  until  it  would  not  bear  a  man's 
woight,  while  in  the  spring  months,  when  Missouri 
farmers  were  accustomed  to  plough  and  plant,  the 
downpour  ceased,  the  adobe  soils  were  soon  baked 
by  the  sun,  and  the  time  of  gormination  was  past. 
Irrigation,  the  resort  of  the  mission  fathers,  seemed 
to  the  novices  a  costly  way  of  making  good  nature's 
(ioficioncies.  Not  one  acre  in  a  thousand  of  the 
ploughed  lands  was  artificially  provided  with  water 
nrfuH'  iSTO.  Even  more  preposterous  at  the  then 
cost  of  labor  seemed  the  building  of  dike,    to   keep 


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298  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

the  spring  floods  from  overflowing  the  river  bottoms, 
although  they  contained  the  richest  soil.    Devas- 
tating floods  were  even  more  frequent  than  droughts  ** 
and  wrought  greater  damage,  sweeping  away  houses 
and  fences  and  submerging  thousands  of  acres  of 
arable  soil.    The  building  of  levees  along  the  Sacra- 
mento and  its  tributaries  and  their  extension  and 
maintenance  became  a  definite  annual  charge  which 
amounted  to  $1,  $2,  and  $3  per  acre.     Elsewhere 
the  silt  deposits  were  not  by  any  means  so  deep  or 
rich  as  in  the  alluvial  valleys  of  Ohio,  Illinois,  and 
Iowa;  the  soil  was  thin,  and  the  accretion  of  vege- 
table mould  was  slow  because  of  the  scant  herbage 
and  dry  atmosphere. 

Some  of  the  most  fertile  lands  in  the  foot-hills  had 
been  ruined  for  tillage  by   the  miners.    In  their 
search  for  gold,  they  had  respected  no  clauns  but 
their  own.    According  to  the  mining  code  any  land 
that  was  suspected  of  containing  "pay  diri;"  was 
open  to  the  prospector,  and  the  surface  loam  was 
relentlessly  scraped  off  and  buried  under  the  saiul 
and  gravel  of  the  river  beds.    In  1855  the  legisla- 
ture took  the  farmers'  interests  so  far  into  account 
su^  tf)  enact  that  buildings,  vineyards,  orchards,  and 
growing  crops  might  not  be  interfered  with  ;  but  the 
wanton  destruction  of  the  arable  lands  did  not  cease, 
and  many  fair  valleys  were  rendered  forever  useless 
by  "diggings"  that  returntHl  but  a  meagre  profit  to 
their   temporary   occupants.    Hydraulic   was  even 
more  injurious  to  agriculture  than  placer  mining. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  cul)i('  feet  of  d6bris  and 
"slickings"  were  carried  down-stream,  filling  up  the 


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THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        299 

beds  of  hitherto  navigable  rivers  and  covering  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  fertile  land.    The  ruin  wrought  for 
the  future  was  incalculable,  but  so  long  as  the  mining 
interests  dominated  the  legislature,  nothing  could 
be  done  by  way  of  prevention  .*«     These    circum- 
stances, taken  in  connection  with  the  high  cost  of 
labor,  served  to  discourage  tillage  in  California  during 
the  first  twenty  years  of  the  American  occupation." 
Corn,  the  staple  crop  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  did 
not  do  well  in  the  semiarid  climate  of  California,  but 
wheat,  oats,  and  barley  had  long  been  cultivated  on 
the  Coast,  where  the  prevailing  fogs  furnished  suffi- 
cient moisture.     Sutter  and  Bidwell  and  other  farm- 
ers in  the  Sacramento  Valley  proved  that  the  interior 
could  produce  heavy  crops  wherever  a  rainfall  of 
twelve  to  sixteen  inches  could  be  relied  on.^^    The 
wheat  land  was  ploughed  in  the  autumn  as  soon  as  the 
November  rains  had  softened  the  parched  earth,  the 
seed  was  sown  in  January  or  February,  and  the  grain 
harvested  in  June  and  July.    Pests  were  abundant. 
Ground  squirrels  and  gophers  gnawed  the  roots,  while 
grasshoppers,  the  curse  of  new  countries,  sometimes 
destroyed  an  entire  crop.    In  the  spring  of  1855,  after 
a  dry  winter  had  deprived  them  of  their  usual  sus- 
tenance, the  grasshoppers  descended  from  the  hills 
to  feed  upon  the  growing  grain,  and  ate  off  in  a  night 
the  season's  planting.    A  dry   spring  with   north 
winds  might  blast  the  tender  shoots,  and  in  the  south- 
ern counties  the  grain  seldom  came  to  perfection  for 
this  reason.    Here  and  elsewhere,  when   there  was 
prospect  of  a  dry  season,  wheat  and  oats  and  barley 
a.s  well  were  cut  in  the  milk  and  stacked  to  be  used 


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300 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


instead  of  hay  for  horses  and  cattle.  Experience 
went  to  she  V  that,  in  the  north,  the  rainfall  might  be 
inadequate  to  the  development  of  the  kernels  for  one 
year  in  three,  and  that  a  killing  drought  was  due 
every  thirteenth  year.^' 

Notwithstanding  the  risks  of  drought.  American 
farmers  were  soon  converted  to  the  advantages  of  a 
dry  season  for  the  harvesting  of  grain.  Ruin  from 
rust  and  mildew  was  unheard  of,  and  there  was  no 
danger  of  untimely  rain.  Once  cut  and  bound,  the 
sheaves  might  lie  in  the  field  for  weeks  unharmed, 
and  the  threshing  be  deferred  until  autumn,  if  desired. 
The  hundred-fold  return  of  the  early  days  could  no 
longer  be  anticipated,  but  the  average  yield  of  twenty 
to  thirty  bushels  was  still  far  in  excess  of  that  in  the 
wheat  belt  east  of  the  Rockies.  Thirty  bushels  was 
an  ordinary  yield  for  oats  and  sixty  for  barley,  and 
good  volunteer  crops  were  not  unusual.  Ploughing 
was  a  less  difficult  matter  than  in  theMissouri  bottoms 
where  the  breaking  up  of  prairie  sod,  subsoil  plough- 
ing, and  harrowing  for  removal  of  stones  and  roots, 
were  necessary  preliminaries  to  the  sowing  of  a  crop, 
and  where,  because  the  fields  were  small  and  uneven, 
gang-ploughs  were  impracticable.^ 

During  the  Civil  War,  the  Eastern  yield  declined, 
and  there  was  a  brisk  demand  for  California  wlioat 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  cattle  ranches  were 
brought  under  the  plough  and  planted  to  grain, 
notably  in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Francisco,  where 
droughts  were  never  disastrous  and  where  the  costs  of 
transportation  were  light.  Ocean  steamers  thai  had 
hitherto  made  the  return  trip  in  ballast  now  put  into 


BBi 


1  i 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        301 

San  Pablo  Bay  and  were  loaded  with  grain  and  flour 
at  Vallejo.    So  dry  wore  the  flint  kernels  that  wheat 
might  be  hauled  direct  from  the  field,  tur'ied  into  the 
hold  and  shipped  round  the  globe  to  Liverpool,  with- 
out risk  from  must  or  mould  or  fermentation.    The 
heavy  rainfall  of  1859-1861  produced  wheat  crops 
that  far  outran  domestic  consumption,  prices  fell  to 
$1.25  per  cental,  and  one  million  bushels  of  grain 
were  sent  to  the  English  market.    The  drought  of 
1864-1865  withered  the  growing  crop  and  brought  the 
price  up  to  $5.25  per  cental.    Exportation  ceased, 
there  was  a  rapid  fluctuation  of  prices,  and  men  specu- 
lated in  wheat  as  madly  as  they  had  speculated  in 
mining  stock.     The  extension  of  the  area  planted  to 
wheat,  the  introduction  of  machinery,  and  a  more 
thoroughgoing  tillage  put  the  business  on  a  substan- 
tial foundation,  and  in  1867  the  export  rose  to  750,000 
bushels.     This  (1865-1870)  was  the  golden  age  for 
the  wheat  farmer.     The  Australian  crops  were  short 
in  these  same  years,  and  the  world's  demand  for 
bread  was  met  from  the  vast  interior  valley  of  Cali- 
fornia.    Yet  the  Nemesis  of  prodigality  was  at  hand. 
No  land  can  be  cropped  for  years  without  rest,  rota- 
tion, or  fertilization,  and  hold   its  own.    The  gang- 
plough  was  usually  run  but  ff)ur  inches  deep,  and  so 
failed  to  reach  the  resources  of  nutriment  and  mois- 
ture I  tent  in  the  earth.     The  shallow  soil,  unwatcred 
;infl  unrenewed,  began  to  show  signs  of  depletion. 
The  acre  yield  fell  from  thirty  bushels  to  twenty,  and 
from  twenty  to  fifteen.^'    In  1871,  a  dry  year,  the 
(Top  averaged  only  nine  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  many 
'>f  the  wheat  farmers  were  ruined. 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

American  ranchmen  were  following  the  line  of  least 
resistance,  as  their  Spanish  predecessors  had  done, 
and  contented  themselves  with  selling  raw  material 
and  buying  finished  products,  with  this  difference, 
that  the  staple  export  was  now  grain,  not  hides  and 
tallow.    A  wheat  ranch  was  hardly  more  profitable 
than  a  cattle  ranch  and  even  more  extravagant,  sir  ' 
the  wheat  ships  carried  away  each  year  a  considcii  )i" 
portion  of  the  nitrogen,  silica,  and  phosphoruF  sit'i 
which  the  soil  had  been  endowed.    No  atUn  .'  ' 
rotation  of  crops  was  made;  for  alfalfa,  c'  >  t:    \  ' 
leguminous  plants  required  irrigation,  an(^  ^  .^  v   ^ 
too  costly  for  general  adoption.     In  the  ea.  ^  ■-  ^  . 
ties  the  rra  of  irrigation  by  private  capital  opciK<.. 
The  revival  began  in  the  San  Gabriel  Valley,  where  1 1 
agricultural  achievement-  af  the  padres  were  in  evi 
dence  and  where  several  colonies  of  Eastern  farmers 
had  settled  ana  begun  to  experiment  with  various 
fruits  and  vegetables.    In  the  neighborhood  of  JLos 
Angeles  and  San  Jos6,  the  old  mission  pnd  pueblo 
ditches  were  maintained,  with  some  extensions  and 
additions.    On  the  ranches  of  the  interior,  mininf; 
ditches   were   utilized    for   agriculture.    Th.,   most 
striking  development  of  irrigation  was  in  the  San 
Joa(iuin  district,  where  rainfall  was  lesc  than  in  the 
northern  valley  and  the  soil  more  sandy,  while  the 
long,  cloudless  summers  were  suited  to  the  ripeninp; 
of  tropic  fruits.    The  San  Joaquin  and  King's  River 
Canal  and  Irrigation  Company  inaugurated  (1872)  a 
system  that  was  to  wa+'^r  fifteen  thousand  acres  and 
proposed  an  extension  that  would  bring  the  total 
area  covered  to  325,000  acres.    The  King's  River 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        303 

Irrigation  Company  built  a  ditch  that  could  provide 
for  300,000  acres,  while  the  Chapman,  Miller,  and  Lux 
Canal  had  a  capacity  to  irrigate  fifty  thousand  acres 
of  the  former  cattle  ranch  .^^    Water  was  furnished 
to  farmers  under  the  canals  at  stated  intervals  and 
in  quantities  adapted  to  the  several  crops  and  seasons. 
The  usual  water  rate  was  $1,50  or  $2  per  acre,  &,n 
annual  charge  that  was  fully  offset  by  the  incidental 
idvantages  of  irrigation.     It  soon  became  evident 
"lat  the  flooding  of  a  field  fertiUzed  the  land,  while 
||  stroying  insect  pests,  gophers,  etc. 

P  With  an  untaxed  soil,  uninterrupted  sunshine,  and 

^f  water  furnished  at  convenient  intervals,  the  experi- 

i  enced  American  farmers  could  accomplish  marvels. 

i  The  growing  season  was  double  that  of  the  Eastern 

states,  and  the  size  and  sweetness  of  cabbage*!,  squashes, 
melons,  etc.,  increased  in  proportion.  Sugar-beets  bore 
fifteen  tons  to  the  acre  with  eight  per  cent  saccharine, 
so  that  the  yield  of  sugar  was  twenty-four  hundred 
pounds  to  the  acre.  F^uit  trees  grew  more  rapidly 
and  bore  earlier  than  east  of  the  Rockies,  and  the 
fruit  was  large  and  abundant.  The  flavor  of  apples, 
peaches,  and  cherries  was  inferior,  but  the  pears  nnd 
apricots  and  plums  of  California  were  uneoualled. 
A  f'  > '  orange  orchards  that  were  planted  at  Sonoma, 
Sac  .lento,  and  Martinez  bore  excellent  fruit,  but 
Ine  cost  of  irrigation  and  the  skill  and  labor  required  in 
the  care  of  the  trees  discouraged  production  on  a  largo 
scale.  The  infrequent  orange  growers  of  the  south 
did  little  more  than  keep  up  the  Spanish  orchards, 
l'<ii  they  reaped  a  fair  prc^^  on  fruit  shipped  vo  the 
San  Francisco  market.     The  conditions  for  grape 


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304 


AMERICAN  SETi'TERS 


culture  were  ideal.  The  light,  jst-uiy  nature  of  many 
soils,  the  freedom  from  rains  or  destructive  storms 
during  the  months  between  the  budding  and  ripening 
of  the  fruit,  the  absence  of  phylloxera  or  other  pests, 
rendered  a  vineyard  an  almost  certain  success.  The 
French  cultivators  in  the  neighborhood  of  Los  An- 
geles and  the  Ciernmn  colony  at  Anaheim  sent  two 
million  pounds  of  grapes  to  San  Francisco  in  the 
season  of  1853-1854,  where  they  sold  at  from  fifty 
cents  to  $7  a  pound." 

All  the  possibilities  of  soil  and  climate  were  not  yet 
known,  and  many  experiments  were  made  at  heavy 
cost,  the  speculative  spirit  instilled  by  the  chances 
of  mining  days  finding  expression  in  the  agricultural 
opening.    Sericulture    was    attempted    by    certain 
enthusiasts,  who  expected  to  rival  Japan  and  Italy 
in  the  production  of  raw  silk  and  eventually  of  the 
finished  product.    The  legislature  was  ind  -ced  (IStiT) 
to  offer  premiums  for  mulberry  i)hin  tat  ions  ($250  for 
1000  trees)  and  for  cocoons  (.$300  for  100,000).  and 
by  1870  the  output  amounted  to  twelve  million  co- 
coons;  hat  more  attention  had  been  given  to  quan- 
tify than  to  quality,  and  the  product  was  not  mar- 
ketable.    It  is  said  that  if  all  the  claims  for  struggling 
mulberry  trees  and  lo\.  grade  cocoons  had  been  pui<l, 
the  state  treasury  would  have  been  bankrupt.     Cot- 
ton growing  was  also  undertaken  and  carried  to  a 
measure  of  success  at    Fresno  in  the  >a!J  ,Ioa(iuiii. 
The  seed  was  brought  from  Sonora.and  the  experieiuM- 
of  Mexican  platiters  was  utilized.     The  yield  was  from 
two  hundred  and  fifty  to  live  humirtMl   pounds  per 
acre,      not  a  heavy  crop,  but  at  thewarpriceof  twenty 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        305 

cents  a  pound  there  was  considerable  profit  in  the 
enterprise,  since  the  cost  of  ploughing,  planting,  pick- 
ing, ginning,  and  baling  did  not  exceed  $30  per  acre. 
The  necessity  for  irrigation  limited  the  available 
area,  however,  and  the  laborers  for  weeding  and  pick- 
ing were  not  to  be  had.  The  premiums  offered  by  the 
legislature  (1805)  had  no  lasting  effect. 

The    honey-bee  — not    native  to  California— was 
introduced  in  1853,  and  for  a  time  the  prosperity  of 
the  small  landholder  was  thought  to  be  assured  by  the 
possession  of  a  dozen  hives.     The  long,  open  summers 
enabled  the  bees  to  store  honey  during  ten  months  of 
the  year,  as  compared  with  six  in  the  Easter.i  states, 
and  hibernation  was  reduced  to  two  months.     Abun- 
dant food  was  furnished  by  the  fruit  trees,  grape-vines, 
clover  blossom.N.  and  wild  flowers,  while  in  arid  sec- 
tions the  sage-brush   afforded  material   for    honey 
of  the  most  delicate  flavor.     Two  hundred  pounds 
was    ot  an  extraordinary  yield  for  a  single  >^warm. 
In  1870  there  were  thirty  thousand  hives  scattered 
♦hrough  the  state.     Hut  the  market  for  this  delicacy 
was  a  small  one,  and  many  of  the  producrrs  found 
they  had  a  glut  on    their  hands.      For   a    lime    it 
was   believed    that     easlor-beaiis    pointed    the  way 
t(.  speedy  wealth,  and   plantatictns  were  set   and  oil 
mills  erected,  but  all  in  vain.     The  [)lants  flourished, 
but  the  market  was  too  limited  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  |)aying  price.     The  craze  for  tobacco  growing 
was  eciually  disastrous.      The  clitnatc  of  ( 'alitnrnia 
was  too  dry  for  the  proper  maturing  of  the  leaf.*' 

The  menace  of  UUifutnliu  was  pas>iiig  ,i\\!iy.     With 
more  intensive  cultivation,  the  -v.c  of  f.trni  holdings 
voL.  n  —  X 


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IF 


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AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

decreased.    The  ideal  of  the  stockman  was  the  eleven- 
league  grant  of  the  Mexican  era,  but  the  great  wheat 
ranches  did  not  contain  mc  re  than  ten  thousand  acres 
of  tillable  land.     Proprietors  of  large  estates,  finding 
that  they  could  not  get  labor  with  which  to  culti- 
vate to  advantage,  were  glad  to  sell  off  considerable 
tracts  at  thirty-seven  to  seventy-five  cents  per  acre. 
Taking  into  account  the  burden  of  taxes  and  the  in- 
security of  titles,  land  was  expensive  even  at  this 
figure.     Irrigation  still  farther  reduced  farm  acreage. 
The  water  companies  preferred  to  rent  water  to  inde- 
pendent cultivators,  even  when  the  land  under  their 
canals  was  originally   their  own,  and  it  was  soon 
evident  that  a  man  could  do  better  with  fruit  or  vege- 
tables on  ten  or  twenty  acres  than  with  a  larger  tract. 
In  1870  one-half  the  farms  in   Los  Angeles  County 
were  between  three  and  fifty  acres  in  size,  and  with  the 
extension  of  the  irrigated  area,  the  general  average 
declined.     After  the  best  lands  in  the  San  Francisco 
basin  had  been  brought  under  cultivation,  the  rec- 
lamation of  the  tule  land  about  the  Bay  and  along 
the  lower  levels  of  the  Sacramento  and  Sf^  Joa(iuiii 
rivers  became  a  project    of   import  a  ncc.      It   was 
estimated  that    three  million  acres  of  rich  swamp 
land,  in  the  heart  of  the  state  and  readily  accessil)le 
to  navigation,  might  be  recovered  by  a  system  of 
earth  embankments  at  a  cost  of  $')  to  S2()  per  acre. 
The    legislatur«>    of    1H74    (>mpowered     the   several 
districts  concern(>d    to   issue  Ixmds  for   the  purpose 
of    reclaiming    the  tule   lands,  and  some  one   hun 
dnnl  thousand  acres  were  drained  within  the  luxt 
ft  \v  years. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNU        307 

Manufactures 

The  promising  beginnings  in  sawmills,  grist-millf*. 
and  tanneries  made  by  the  Amoncun  pioneers  at 
Santa  Cruz,  Verba  Buena,  and  Bodega  w«Te  swrpt 
into  oblivion  by  the  gold  excitement.  All  supplies 
for  the  mines  and  for  the  tributary  towns  were  im- 
ported. Beef  and  flour  cam(^  from  Honolulu  and 
Sydney,  salt  was  forwarded  as  ballast  from  Jioston 
and  Liverpool,  wine  from  Bordeaux,  articles  de  luxe 
from  China.  Even  after  the  gold  bubble  ha(i  burst 
and  men  began  to  look  about  them  for  more  normal 
employment,  manufactures  developed  slowly  because 
of  certain  physical  handicaps.  F'uel  was  to  be  had 
only  at  prohibitory  prices.  Wood  was  scarce  and 
very  costly,  and  there  were  no  coal  mines  nearer  than 
Puget  Sound.  Water-pf>wer  was  abundant  in  the 
Sierras,  but  the  Coast  Range  furnished  none  that  could 
woll  l)e  utilized,  and  the  modern  methods  of  trans- 
mitting power  by  electric  current  were  not  yet 
dreamed  of.  The  forests  of  pine  and  n>d\voo(l  offered 
excellent  building  material,  but  there  were  no  hard 
woods  such  as  must  be  u.sed  in  the  making  of  wagons, 
implements,  casks,  etc.  In  the  first  decade  of  the 
American  occupation,  moreover,  neither  capital  nor 
hihor  was  available  on  such  terms  as  to  encounme 
manuf.icturing  enterpn  es.  The  legal  r;it(>  of  int(Test 
vva>  still  high,  and  wages  were  prohil)iti\e. 

'I'lie  new  citizens  of  California  might  have  b«M'ii  no 
less  conteiit  than  were  the  Mexican  rntirhcrox  to 
remain  a  raw  materia!  producing  country,  but  that 
flicir  wants  w(>re  more  diversihed,  numerous,  and  im- 


I  I. 


ill' 


f, 


li 


<  ll 


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M 
m 


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308 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


perative.    The  machinery  needed  for  quartz  mining 
was  too  bulky  to  be  sent  round  the  Horn  from  Liver- 
pool or  New  York,  except  at  a  cost  that  jeopardized 
success,  while  the  risks  involved  in  the  transport  of 
powder  and  explosives,  matches,  nitric  and  sulphuric 
acids,   imposed   an   extravagant   rate  of    insurance. 
Moreover,  the  stamp-mills,  amalgamators,  and  roast- 
ing furnaces  suited  to  gold  mining  were  not  made  for 
the  coal  mines  of  Pennsylvania  or  the  Black  Country, 
and  Calif  ornians  of  determinaticm  and  energy  set  about 
the  manufacture  of  engines  and  machinery  adapted 
to  local   needs.     Coal  was  shipped  from  Australia 
and    from    the    newly    discovered    deposits  in    the 
Cascatles ;  the  wheat  ships  brought  back  pig-iron  in 
ballast  at  cost  of  $35  to  SUX)  per  ton,  even  scrap  iron 
was  utilized  ;  foundries  were  erected  in  San  Francisco 
and  in  Sacramento,  and  the  industrial  miracle  was 
accomplished.     Stamp  batteries  and  portable  engines 
of  California  manufacture  were  on  sale  in  185.5,  ami 
wire  rojw  in  1857.     By  18G0  there  were  sixteen  foun- 
dries and  machine  shops  at  San  Franci   -o,  and  min- 
ing machinery'  was  being  exported  to  Nevada,  Mex- 
ico. Nicaragua,  and  Bolivia.^-'    The  smelting  works 
built  to  rotine  the  silver  ore  sent  down  from  the  ( 'oni- 
stock   IahIo  were  at   that   time  the  largest   in   the 
Tnited  States  and  received  ore  from  Utah  and  .\ri- 
zona  as  well  as  from   Nevada.     Ciant  powder  w:i-< 
iinpcvrtcfl  from  Boston  and  cost  i?5  a  keg,  until  powder 
works  were  e,-t;tblis|ied  at   Ssmta  Cruz  (IHOIM.      All 
tlie  raw  materials  w«'re  at  hand.     Sulphur  had  been 
found  at  Clear  Lake,  was  being  nunrd  at  the  rate  "f 
four  foti<  ;i  day,  and  could  l»e  delixcred  on  llie  (  oa  i 


^:mmm 


m»^'=:' 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA         309 

for  three  and  four  rents  a  pound,  — less  than  the  price 
of  the  Si(;Uian  import.     Nitrate  of  soda  was  brought 
from  Cliili  and  Peru,  while  charcoal  kilns  were  opened 
in  the  ("oai^t  Range,  where  the  scrub-oaks  and  willows 
were  converted  into  fuel.     By  1870  nine-tenths  of  the 
explosives  used  in  California  were  manufactured  at 
home,  aiK;  a  considerable  quantity  was  exported  to 
iMexico  and   ^outh  America.     Nitric  and  sulphuric 
acids  were  supplied  to  the  smelters  by  1853,  and  the 
candles  used    for  lighting  the  mines— imported  until 
18G7  — were  thereafter  furnished  by  home  industry. 
No  sooner  was  lead  produced  in  the  silver  mines  of 
Inyo  County  than  shot   towers  and  type  foundries 
were  started.     Hetuf)  was  imported   from   Manila, 
and  ropewalks  were  opened  at  San  Francisco  (1850) 
tliat  competed  successfully  with  the  Atlantic  Coast 
I)roducers. 

These  triumphs  encouraged  other  ventures.  The 
lumber  needed  for  the  building  of  houses,  flumes,  and 
sluices  had  been  imported  at  great  cost.  For  ex- 
am])Ie,  five  million  feet  of  lumb(>r  was  shipped  to  Cali- 
Umuix  in  181<)  from  Bangor,  Maine.  There  was  plenty 
of  pine  and  fir  in  the  foot-hills,  however,  and  water- 
power  was  usually  within  easy  reach.  Soon  every 
lining  town  had  its  sawmill,  where  Yankee  ingenu- 
ity introduced  labor-saving  devices  such  as  levers, 
chutes,  donkey  engines,  and  the  circular  saw  with 
adjustable  t«'eth.  With  the  increased  output,  the 
price  f<'ll  from  $.')(K)  to  SIO  per  thousand  feet.  Adobe 
construction  did  not  reconunend  itself  to  flic  Ameri- 
c!Uis,  and  nine-tenths  of  the  new  houses  in  northern 
California  were  built  of  wood.     Brick  for  the  more 


r  I 


f.   .  i 


LA 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


t     . 


310 

nretentiom  business  houses  was  made  at  Santa  Cruz, 

Td  r«r  was  sent  round  the  Horn.    Stone  houses 

Tu^d  wUhin  transportable  distance  and  the  ...  U, 
stone  use,l  had  been  imported  from  Chma  the  Sand 
wi  h  Wands,  and  the  .Ulantie  Coast.    The  cheap.,, 
Mding  material  was  re,lwood,  and  the  magmficent 
t"re,  s  of  the  Coast  Range  we.,  telled  ren.orselessb . 
aTe^  into  plank-s  and  boards,  and  shippe,!  to  .i,o 
Zlt  to  be  wrought  into  flimsy  hou*s  that  we«.  a,s 
rapidly  swept  away  by  the  frequent  conflagrut >.,. 
InVearly  years  the  c.sings  lor  doors  and  w,,.d». 
,nd  all  inside  finishings  were  .n.ported .   but  la  er, 
p"  ning  nulls  were  ereete-l,  and  the,e  w^s  no  nee.  t,, 
pu      L  abroad.    As  the  fan,,  area  was  ex.e..d  d 
and  lun.l«r  wa.s  required  for  fences  and  plank  road. 

;"e  California  supply  of  rclw 'f ''f '  ^    '^^ 

,..,.  «.nt   .h,wn  the  coa.st  fro,.,  Orogo...    Tlu   tr  I 
lucnpt  a,  ref„r,..s.a.ion  was  n,a.le  u.  18««.  whe,.  .I,- 
Australia..  g,.m  (eucalyptus)  was  plauted  .n  the  (  »■ 
fro  Valley.    The  experi.nent  wa.s  highly  success, 
tor  a  seven-year  growth  yield.Hl  $m)  ,K.r  acre  .,,  (u. 
and  telegraph  poles.    This  graceful  tree  was  well 
riap.odt„.alifon.iac,mditions.  for.  .hough  se,».,t,vc 

to  fn,sts,  it  thrives  in  dry  a..d  ulkal,  soils. 

The  crowU-l  tratlic  ..I  the  ,.„mng  days  creat.d  ., 
,,oma„d    for    sn.all    r.v,.    and    ......ing    ^'>'^■■ 

•n,,  „„.,1  was  lirst  met  by  the  sh.pyardsof  He.,,. .  . 
wber,.  ,oa.,v  „„s..aw,.r,l,>   .Kva„  v.,s..|s  were  .„a. 
,,v,.r  ,,,,,,  riv,-.,-n,ft.  u.KH,sh,,,gsl,,.,ps«.;r.>h; 

(„MI, 1  iKO.ks  ,.f  .!,.•  Absk .,.s.r    Thel,- 

lUoiog  s,..u.n..-  w.s  b.ult  .„  1H04.     The  ■.e..d  ,o, 


wm 


inc 


:is- 


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THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        311 

stages  and  ore  wagons  was  met  in  the  same  enterpris- 
ing fashion  by  the  wagon  factories  at  San  Francisco, 
Sacramento,  Stockton,  and  Marysville.  Enormous 
freighters,  weighing  four  thousand  pounds  and 
capable  of  carrying  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  and 
stages  fit  to  stand  the  strain  of  rough  mountain 
roads  were  soon  on  the  market.  To  meet  the  demand 
of  the  wheat  ranches,  agricultural  implements  were 
manufactured,  and  machinery  such  as  the  multiple 
gang-plough  and  the  combined  reaper  and  thresher 
was  invented  to  deal  with  the  vast  wheat  fields  in 
wholesale  fashion.  The  conversion  of  wheat  into 
flour  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  new  market 
early  engaged  the  attention  of  California  entrepre- 
nours,  and  steam-power  was  introduced  in  the  mills 
at  Sacramento,  Colusa,  and  Chico.  The  best-grade 
flour  was  ground  at  Vallejo  and  exported  to  Australia, 
Chili,  and  England. 

liocf  was  salted  for  the  mining  camps  in  18.52,  and 
tlie  market  was  supplied  by  domestic  producers  alter 
ISGO.  Meat  packing  and  the  manufacture  of  sonp 
depended  on  the  cattle  industry.  After  the  losses  of 
1SG7,  the  price  of  hides,  tallow,  and  beef  rose,  and 
California  manufacturers  had  diflSculty  in  compel - 
iiij?  with  their  rivals  in  the  East.  Salt  suflicient  for 
iiome  consumption  as  well  as  for  the  packing  houses 
and  fish-flakes  was  provided  by  18G5.  Along  the 
tidal  reaches  of  the  Bay,  solar  evaporation  was 
relied  on.  .At  Santa  Barbara  arul  Los  Angeles 
l>oiling  vats  were  used.  At  Kern  Lake  and  in  other 
ari<l  sections  remote  from  the  sen,  the  brine  was 
pujuped  from  subterranean  wells.     Borax,  discovered 


t 


.    i 


K  <  >\ 


i 


';i- 


'!  'f 


1 
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II 


312  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

in   the   salt   flats  east  of   the  Sierras,   was  much 
in  demand  among   the  meat  packers  and  brought 
about  twenty  times  the  price  of  salt,  so  that  the 
transportation  charges  were   easily  covered.     The 
long  sea  voyage  injured  the  quality  of  Eastern  beors 
so   that  the   CaUfornia  brew  was  superior.     Hops 
were  grown  and  breweries  built  to  meet  a  rapidly 
expanding  demand.     A  boot  and  shoe  factory  was 
opened  in  1863  and,  by  dint  of  low-priced  leather  ami 
the  employment  of  cheap  Chinese  and  convict  labor, 
furnished  the  coarser  grades  at  low  prices,  while  a  few 
cooperative  shops  inaugurated  by  skilled  artisans  dui 
a  thriving  business  in  the  higher  grades.    By  1S()0 
one-fourth  the  shoes  used  in  the  state  were  of  Cuii- 
fornian  manufacture.     Heavy  gloves,  harness,  bolt- 
ing, hose,  etc.,  were  also  produced. 

The  revival  of  woollen  manufacture  was  another 
happy  result  of  the  war  period.     Bounties  on  textiles 
were  offered  in  1862,  $1000  for  the  first  thousand 
pieces  of  sheetin-s,  drillings,  or  cloth.     A  factory  that 
had  been  built  in  San  Francisco  in  1858  reaped  the 
advantage  of  this  legislation.     The  best  of  the  wool 
dip  was  kept  at  home,  labor-saving  muchinory  was 
introduced,  Chinese  laborers  were  secured  at  SI. 12 
a  day,  and  the  industry  was  soon  on  a  solid  basis. 
The  Mission  Mills,  owned  by  Donald  McLennan, 
made  the  best  blankets  in  the  United  States,  wh.K" 
other  mills  furnished  the  woollen  shirtings  witn  which 
the  miners  were  clothed.     The  only  serious  compe- 
tition was  from  Oregon,   where  water-power  and  a 
cleaner  w<.(.l  gave  the  produ'-or  distinct  advantat^^s. 
A  cotton  factory  put  up  in  Oakland  was  less  success- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        313 


ful,  for  the  raw  material— and  that  of  inferior  quality 
—  had  to  be  imported  from  Mexico.  The  factory 
was  eventually  converted  to  cotton  bagging. 

Experiments  in  the  making  of  sugar  from  melons, 
beets,  and  sorghum  had  been  inaugurated  in  the  early 
fifties,  but  without  much  success.  Low-grade  cane 
sugar  was  being  produced  in  the  Sandwich  Islands 
as  well  as  in  Thina,  Java,  and  the  Philippines. 
Three  refineries  were  put  up  in  San  Francisco  in 
1865-1866,  with  a  capacity  of  thirty  million  pounds. 
Since  the  |)rice  of  raw  sugar  was  thirteen  cents  per 
pound  and  that  of  refined  eighteen  cents,  the  profits 
were  considerable.  Before  the  close  of  the  decade, 
however,  this  promising  industry  was  jeopardized  by 
excessive  and  unregulated  production  and  by  the 
importation  of  cheap  sugars  from  the  Eastern  states 
and  from  Germanj-.  Claus  Spreckels  weathered  the 
storm,  and  his  Bay  Sugar  Refining  Company  became 
the  largest  in  the  United  States. 

This  extraordinary  development  of  manufactures 
was  of  artificial  nature.  The  peculiar  isolation  of 
California,  intensified  by  the  Civil  War  which  tempo- 
rarily checked  the  inflow  of  Eastern  manufactures, 
and  the  War  Tariff  which  excluded  foreign  goods  ; 
the  buoyant  and  adventurous  character  of  the  Cali- 
fornia entrepreneur;  the  anti-foreign  movement  which 
drove  Chinamen,  Mexicans,  and  all  juiners  of  Latin 
stock  to  the  towns;  the  bounties  ofTered  by  the  state 
Icfiislature ;  — these  conditions  had  induced  a  hot- 
house development  that  could  hardly  be  permanent. 
With  the  close  of  the  war,  l"'a>fern  and  European 
producers   began   to   flood  the   market   with   good'^ 


V     f 


i'\ 


1:1  < 


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1  ' 

m''mjtA^"'m^M 


pr  wm^ijkf. 


''2^M' 


MICROCOPY   RESOIUTION   TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


lit 
IS 


125  i  1.4 


1.8 
1.6 


.^^^^^^P 


/APPLIED  IM/1GE    I 

16".  1    tost  Main    SIre.l 

Roc'ie5t»>.  N»«    York  U(i09        USA 

("6)    »82  -   OJOO      Phon. 

!'I6)    J88  -  5989   -  ra. 


t 

H 


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1 


A.i^ 


314 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


that  they  were  willing  to  sell  below  cost  in  order 
to  regain  the  lost  ground.  All  attempts  to  compete 
in  the  better  grades  of  leather  goods  and  woollen  and 
cotton  cloth  were  futile.  The  completion  of  the 
transcontinental  railway  in  1869  put  an  end  to  the 
isolation  of  the  market.  Henceforth  California's 
manufactures  were  of  necessity  confined  to  such 
articles  as  were  too  bulky  for  transportation  by  rail 
or  for  which  the  raw  materials  were  produced  at 
home  or  by  one  or  another  of  her  Pacific  neighbors. 

Section  VIII 
The  Labor  Supply 

During  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  American 
occupation  there  was  a  chronic  scarcity  of  labor  in 
California.  In  matter  of  fact,  there  were  no  bona 
fide  wage-earners  in  the  country.  Since  the  discov- 
ery of  gold,  none  such  had  migrated  to  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Moneyless  immigrants  there  were  in  plenty, 
American,  English,  Irish,  German ;  but  they  had 
come,  practically  without  exception,  not  to  seek 
employment,  but  to  make  a  fortune  on  their  own 
account  in  the  gold  fields,  in  the  gambling-houses,  r 
in  the  various  business  enterprises  made  profitable  l)y 
the  extravagance  of  the  mining  communities.  They 
were  ready  to  undertake  hard  labor  and  to  undorifo 
desperate  privations  wherever  there  was  an}'  chance 
of  sudden  wealth  ;  but  for  prosaic,  humdrum  toil,  even 
at  assured  wages,  they  had  no  mind.  Few  miners  ac- 
crpicd  crnp!«>y!!>r'?U  unU^ss  ihoy  worp  "down  on  thoir 
luck,"  and  then  only  temporarily.     During  the  rainy 


1  10   jmi'P,:xjj 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        315 

season,  the  great  mass  of  the  unsuccessful  crowded 
into  the  cities,  notably  San  Francisco,  and,  having 
nothing  laid  by,  were  forced  to  hire  out  in  order  to  get 
through  the  winter.     The   majority  were  unskilled 
and    unaccustomed    to    steady    work.     Physically 
broken,  intemperate,  cherishing  a  grievance  against 
any  man  more  prosperous  than  themselves,  they  con- 
stituted a  restless,  unrehable,  and  even  dangerous  body 
of  laborers.    William  Shaw  describes  the  conditions  iii 
San  Francisco  in  the  autumn  of  1849:   "The  winter 
having  set  in,  thousands  were  returning  sick  and 
impoverished  from  the  mines ;  the  arrival  of  so  many 
laborers  soon  affected  the  rate  of  wages,  and  the 
points  [Millers  Point]  were  daily  crowded  with  men 
unable  to  get  work.    As  this  influx  of  labor  caused 
a  great  diminution  of  wages,  the  price  of  provisions 
remaining  the  same,  discontent  and  indignation  pre- 
vailed amongst  the  lower  orders,  and  nightly  meet- 
ings took  place,  attended  by  crowds  of  the  rabble 
ripe  for  pillage  and  riot,  but  luckily  without  leaders. 
Had  an  O'Connell  arisen  from  amongst  them,  order 
might  have  been  subverted  and  terms  dictated  by 
the  mob  to  the  storekeepers  and  householders ;  as 
it  was,  these  meetings  ended  in  furious  tirades,  for- 
bidding foreigners  to  seek  employment  or  people  to 
hire  them ;  accusing  the  foreigners  of  being  the  cause 
of  a  fall  in  wages,  and  holding  out  a  deailly  threat  to 
all  who  dared  labour  under  the  fixed  rate  of  pay- 
ment—ten dollars  a   day.""    Millers    Point,   the 
labor  market  of  those  years,  was  terrorized  by  these 
malcontents.    Employers    dared    not    openly    offer 
nor  men  accept  wages  lower  than  those  proclainifd 


K. 


H         1 


I    ' 


I  i: 


\'i..wmcz  MH'^ir 


y  'WIT.  t'T'Pus.gatsifr.iw^  ui'jgjr.ig»  *• 


<T9jM 


.-.^TV^V-J.J- 


LJ)«I15*'V* 


31G 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


=       -'  11: 


by  the  mob  of  unemployed.    "Numbers  of  respect- 
able working-men,  who  would  willingly  have  worked 
for  a  reasonable  sum,  were  almost  destitute  for  want 
of  employment,  nigh  starving." «»    Violence  was  not 
only  threatened  but  actually  brought  to  bear.    Em- 
ployers were  beaten  and  men  were  killed,  and  the 
authorities  dared  not  interfere.    An  English  ship- 
master whose  crew   had   deserted,   applied   to  the 
alcalde  for  aid  in  recovering  the  men.     He  was  told 
that  a  seaman's  contract  made  under  a  monarcliy 
was  not  binding  in  free  California,  and  there  was  no 
redress.    Every  spring  this  vagabond  horde  drifted 
back  to  the  diggings,  leaving  a  shortage  of  labor 
where  there  had  been  a  glut.    The  irregularity  in  the 
labor  supply  was  accentuated  by  a  no  less  marked 
irregularity  in  the  demand,  for  most  of  the  employ- 
ments w^ere  seasonal,  dependent  on  the  rainfall  or  on 
unforeseeable   local    conditions.    When    a   steamer 
came  into  port,  there  was  imperative  need  of  dray- 
men and  dock  laborers ;  even  the  Kanakas,  tlie  poor- 
est of  hands,  could  get  SI  per  hour ;  but  the  emer- 
gency passed  with  the  discharge  of  the  cargo,  and 
for  months  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  on  the  docks. 
When  the  building  craze  struck  a  town,  carpenters 
and  brick-layers  could  command  almost  any  wajie ; 
but  the  boom  might  last  only  a  few  months,  and  then 
laborers  were  forced  to  seek  employment  elsewhere. 
The  earnings  of  the  rush  seasons  must  cover  long 
periods  of  unemployment. 

As  the  placer  diggings  were  exhausted,  the  broken- 
down  ininerH  hircci  out  to  the  minirig  conspanier,  and 
their  wages  declined  to  a  living  minimum  of  §.'?  per 


a 


.<>&<HV<w>  >J 


-.'•>-•'  d>    V 


mmm 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        317 

day  (1870).  The  Mexicans  and  Chilians,  driven 
from  the  mines  by  the  anti-foreign  agitation,  found 
refuge  in  the  towns  and  were  glad  to  accept  wage 
service.  After  1849  there  was  an  unsteady,  but  none 
the  less  evident,  fall  in  wages.  San  Francisco  car- 
penters, the  best  paid  of  skilled  laborers,  were  getting 
$16  in  1849,  SIO  in  1851,  S7  in  1853,  S5in  1856,  and 
$4  in  1870.  The  wages  of  day-laborers  fell  from  $4 
in  1849  to  .§1.75  in  1870,  for  white  men,  while  in  the 
latter  year  Chinamen  got  from  eighty  cents  to  $1.25 
per  day. 

Chinese  immigration  had  received  little  attention 
in  the  flush  days  of  the  early  fifties.  The  Chinese 
were  but  one,  and  that  not  the  most  bizarre,  of  the 
elements  contributed  by  the  countries  bordering  on 
the  Pacific.  Kanakas,  South  Sea  Islanders,  Malays, 
and  Hindoos  were  equally  alien  to  European  ideas  of 
what  was  seemly  and  intelligible.  The  other  Orien- 
tals came  and  went,  making  no  permanent  impres- 
sion on  industrial  conditions  in  California;  but  the 
Celestials  remained.  Five  hundred  had  arrived 
in  1850,  twenty-four  thousand  in  1851,  twenty  thou- 
sand in  1852,  but  the  number  dropped  to  forty-seven 
hundred  in  1853,  and  three  thousand  in  1854,  and 
continued  to  decline  for  tlie  fifteen  years  following. 
Chinese  first  appeared  in  the  gold  fields,  where  they 
worked  together  in  large  companies  under  effective 
leadership,  but  using  tools  so  like  to  children's  toys 
that  they  excited  t'.e  ridicule  of  the  sturdy  wielders 
of  pan  and  rocker.  The  little  yellow  men  were 
Rontle  and  timid,  readily  yielding  place  to  the  arro- 
gant  Americans.    They   ultimately    confined    their 


•  i    I 


J 


'1'  J 

\v\ 

i|  !i 

:  ' ' 
ii  'I 


n ' 


'    M 


4  t 


!       i    . 

i      i 

!     I 


'       ! 


I 'It 


318 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


operations  to  the  placers  abandoned  by  the  others, 
but  such  was  their  patience  and  industry  that,  even 
so,  they  contrived  to  get  a  fair  return.     Soon  they 
found  more  remunerative  employment  in  restaurants 
and  laundries ;  they  diked  the  tule  lands,  converted 
them   into  proUfic   market   gardens,   and   supplied 
vegetables  to  the  scurvy-haunted  mining  camps.    In 
the  early  days  the  Chinese  were  regarded  as  a  pic- 
turesque and  highly  desirable  addition  to  the  work- 
ing  force   of   California,    greatly    superior   to   the 
Mexicans  and  Chilenos  and  "Sydney  ducks,"  since 
they  were  honest,  industrious,  and  law-abiding ;  but 
no  sooner  were  the  Latin  races  driven  from  the  mines 
than  economic  jealousy  and  race  prejudice  vented 
their  wrath  upon  the  Celestials.     Against  this  non- 
combative  people,  the  foreign  miners'   license  was 
enforced  with  special  rigor,— the  greedy  collectors 
demanding  payment  several  times  a  month.    The 
burden  of  this  tax,  coupled  with  numerous  outrages 
perpetrated  upon  them,  drove  the  Chinamen  from 
the  gold  fields  and  deprived  the  employers  of  sorely 
needed  laborers.     A  vigorous  protest  from  this  in- 
terest impelled  the  legislature  to  reduce  the  tax  to 
$3  per  month  (1852),  but  in  response  to  the  demands 
of  the  American  and  Irish  miners  it  was  raised  to  ?4 
in  1853  and  to  $G  in  1855.    The  unwise  provision 
that  the  fee  was  to  be  automatically  increased  by  S2 
each  year  thereafter,  brought  about  the  repeal  of  this 
law  and  restored  the  $4  rate.    The  tax  was  collected 
from  the  Chinese  miners  and  from  them  alone  until 
1870,  when  the  Federal  courts  declared  it  unconsti- 
tutional.   During   the   twenty   years   in   which  a 


-•if^JURr  /.-.^wm^w. 


•"•it-^'.^t » 


lWSSSf/i?=SS««^^S?^^ 


"■II  I  ■     llll^llllll 


2        THE  CONQUEST  OF  CALIFORNIA        319 

foreign  miners'  tax  was  collected,  the  revenue  de- 
rived amounted  to  $5,000,000,  of  which  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  Chinese,  who  had  no  votes  and  could 
not  testify  in  the  courts,  who  rarely  made  use  of 
schools,  hospitals,  almshouses,  or  asylums,  paid 
ninety-five  per  cent.  Without  this  contribution, 
amounting  to  half  the  total  taxes  levied  in  the  state, 
an  adequate  police  force  and  relief  of  the  destitute 
could  hardly  have  been  maintained  in  CaUfornia.^^ 

Driven  from  the  mines,  the  Celestials  found  em- 
ployment in  tlie  towns,  —  in  restaurants,  laundries, 
and  private  houses.  Nine  thousand  were  drafted 
to  Nevada  to  build  tlie  Central  Pacific  Railway, 
three  thousand  went  into  the  shoe  factories,  cigar 
shops,  and  ready-made  clothing  trade.  The  BurUn- 
game  Treaty  (18G8)  made  the  coolie  trade  a  penal 
offence,  but  provided  for  reciprocal  privileges, — 
voluntary  immigration,  exemption  from  persecu- 
tion on  religious  grounds,  freedom  of  residence  and 
travel,  right  of  attendance  on  schools  and  colleges, 
etc.  The  primary  purpose  of  the  treaty,  from  our 
standpoint,  was  to  secure  to  American  merchants 
freedom  of  entiy  to  a  promising  market ;  but  the 
immediate  effect  was  to  increase  the  volume  of 
Chinese  immigration  to  California.  In  the  three  years 
between  1808  and  1871  there  were  twenty-two 
thousand  arrivals,  and  systematic  agitation  against 
Chinese  cheap  labor  was  inaugurated. 


•1^1 


i 

!    t        > 


i,    -i 


I!. 


ssw^r.p^f 


:iV;M; 


.,*-*.■*.■' 


S'*¥!»i^?£ir.  / 


PART  V 


FREE  LAND  AND  FREE  LABOR 


hi 
11 


!l  1' 


1    I 

I!   I 


Si  I'fi 


■!.;-.;ri 
!:'  fr 

\-    \i 
t:    I » 

M  l 


?'<sg^yLV^^^^^«^^Et8»^Mi4.i.iiiB>^taiit<?<nig'^^ 


^\m^w  -^;?3ai[k?^i«K^T^:^3s^s^^i^.^BaHE^??^^^.s^^^^ 


CHAPTEIl  I 


w 

1 

i 

i 

f 

r 

fc-          * 

'f:      t 

1 

1 

THE   CURSE  OF  SLAVERY 


To  the  planters  of  Louisiana  and  Texas,  slave 
labor  seemed  essential  to  the  cultivation  of  sugar  and 
cotton.  The  torrid  suns  and  heavy  malarial  soils 
of  the  Gulf  Coast  discouraged  white  laborers,  and 
recourse  to  negroes  was  regarded  as  inevitable. 
Slaves  in  plenty  were  being  brought  down  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  or 
driven  in  gangs  across  the  mountains  from  the  Caro- 
linas.  It  was  a  traffic  highly  profitable  to  both  sec- 
tions, since  slaves  were  multiplying  beyond  the  needs 
of  the  exhausted  lands  of  the  Atlantic  states,  and  the 
surplus  would  have  been  an  embarrassment  but  for 
the  market  developing  in  the  Southwest.  So  brisk 
was  the  demand  for  Northern  negroes  to  make  good 
the  loss  of  life  in  the  unhealthy  sections  and  to  supply 
new  plantations,  that  the  price  of  prime  field  hands 
rose  from  $500  in  1840  to  $1000  in  1850  and  12000 
in  1860.  The  temptation  to  import  these  valuable 
commodities  was  irresistible,  and  negroes  were 
smuggled  in  from  the  West  Indies  and  the  Gold 
Coast  in  defiance  of  Federal  legislation.  During  the 
years  in  which  Iowa,  Oregon,  Utah  and  California 
were  being  peopled  by  Anglo-Saxons,  Germans,  and 
Scandinavians,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  even 
Missouri  'sv^ere  supplied  with  laborers  of  African 
blood.    The  census  of  1850  showed  that  more  than 

323 


'I     ' 


I  I 


n 


i  !1 


i  h 


i.|  ^^^ 


1 1 


1 

I 

!•  i 


I  . ;  1 


>r^/«'C::iyaiR.?^!S2gaaW«^Kafc?-lE#*^Srr'5Jg^^ 


\i 


I  ,; 


.!, 


'i:'^ 

^^|; 

1 

i  ' 

■i 

1 

1 

|ii|iii 

;          , 

M 

1 

\J 

324  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

half  the  population  of  Louisiana  was  made  up  of 
slaves  and  free  blacks.  The  proportion  for  Texas  v;'as 
twenty-seven  per  cent,  that  for  Arkansas  twenty-two 
per  cent,  while  in  Missouri,  the  northernmost  slave 
state,  the  colored  population  was  thirteen  per  cent 
of  the  total.  Slaves  were  numerous  in  the  bottom 
lands  along  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers,  but 
they  were  little  employed  in  the  barren  uplands  of 
western  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  and  northern  Mis- 
souri. 

Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  who  made  his  saddle  trip 
through  Texas  in  1854,  was  impressed  by  this  con- 
trast as  he  watched  a  gang  of  twenty-two  negroes 
embarking  at  New  Orleans  for  some  plantation  on  the 
lower  river,  while  alongside  lay  a  steamer  filled  with 
emigrants  and  their  luggage,  bound  for  the  upper 
Mississippi.     "Louisiana  or  Texas,  thought  I,  pays 
\'irginia  twenty  odd  thousand  dollars  for  that  lot  of 
bone  and  muscle.    Virginia's  interest  in  conti'^uing  the 
business  may  be  imagined,  —  but  where  is  the  advan- 
tage of  it  to  Louisiana,  and  especially  to  Texas? 
Yonder  is  a  steamboat  load  of  the  same  material  — 
bone  and  muscle  which,  at  the  same  sort  of  valuation, 
is  worth  two  hundred  and  odd  thousand  dollars  ;  and 
off  it  goes  past  Texas,  through  Louisiana  —  far  away 
yet,  up  the  rivor,  and  Wisconsin  or  Iowa  will  get  it, 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth,  to  say  nothing 
of   the  thalers  and  silver  groschen  in  those  strong 
chests,  — all  for  nothing."  ^     The  disparity  did  not 
end  with  the  original  cost.     It  was  evident  also  in 
the  output  of  free  as  compared  with  slave  labor.     "  In 
ten  years'  time,  how  many  mills,  and  bridges,  and 


w. 


THE  CURSE  OF  SLAVERY 


325 


schoolliouses,  and  miles  of  railroad  will  the  Germans 
have  built  ?"  and  what  a  market  for  products  of  the 
rest  of  the  Union  will  they  not  have  developed? 
Meantime  the  negroes  will  have  produced  several 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  sugar  or  cotton  which  will 
be  shipped  north  in  exchange  for  supplies  without 
adding  anything  to  the  permanent  wealth  of  their 
new  home. 

The  heavy  expenditure  for  slaves  kept  the  planters 
continually  in  debt,  so  that  there  were  few  of  them 
in  Louisiana  or  Mississippi  who  were  not  seriously 
embarrassed.     A  succession  of  two  or  three  bad  year- 
spelled  ruin  to  all  but  a  fortunate   ten  per  cent. 
Olmsted  thought  that  the  Louisiana  sugar  planter 
was  at  an  inevitable  disadvantage  as  compared  with 
his  Cuban  competitor,  since  he  had  to  grow  the  cane 
under  a  severer  climate.     Frost  might  occur  in  any 
one  of  the  winter  months,  and  the  lands  under  the 
levee  were  cold  and  damp,  the  yield  of  saccharine 
was  never  so  heavy,  and  the  "seed"  had  to  be 
planted  every  third  year.     In  Cuba  the  yield  was 
from  three  thousand  to  six  thousand  pounds  of  sugar 
per  acre,  while  in  Louisiana  the  average  yield  was 
only  one  thousand  pounds.     The  cost  of  production, 
moreover,  was  double  that  on  a  Cuban  plantation.' 
Olmsted  concluded  that  the  sugar  planters  of  Loui- 
siana were  kent  going  by  the  two  peculiar  institutions 
of  slavery  and  a  protective  tariff.     "I  must  confess 
that  there  seems  to  me  room  for  grave  doubt  if  the 
capital,  labour,  and  especially  the  human  life,  which 
have  been  and  which  continue  to  be  spent  in  con- 
verting the  swamps  of  Louisiana  into  sugar  planta- 


K 


PI 


!'  1 


I 

i  I 

.  i 

:  I 


I  I 


j    ■ 


'if  • 


i  y 


1  I 


^K:^s^C'..i5;^feSaiafer  .ii^r:-4>j4*K:si/ 


rsffss.'^  ^ '  v^'  -rmfy'^rm^.  ^  ■ 


.  '--i 


>h 


ill  h 


•■i       ! 


;  \ 


I  ' 


326 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


tions,  and  in  defending  them  against  the  annual 
assaults  of  the  river,  and  the  fever  and  the  cholera, 
could  not  have  been  better  employed  somewhere 
else."  ^  Only  the  great  plantations  paid  a  profit 
on  the  investment.  The  expense  of  installing  a 
sugar-mill  might  amount  to  $100,000,  steam  pumps 
for  drainage  would  cost  $50,000  more,  and  the  first 
cost  and  maintenance  of  two  hundred  slaves  meant 
$400,000.'  Such  a  lay-out  could  not  be  justified 
except  where  a  large  supply  of  cane  was  available. 
The  small  planters  were  selling  out  to  the  large-scale 
producers  so  generally  that  two  hundred  estates,  or 
one-eighth  the  total  number,  were  already  manufac- 
turing one-half  the  sugar  exported. 

The  cotton  fields  of  Louisiana  were  producing  one 
and  a  half  (400  lb.)  bales  to  the  acre,  or  U  -m  eight 
to  ten  bales  per  hand,  where  the  soil  was  fresh,  but 
the  land  was  soon  exhausted,  and  no  effort  was  made 
to  renew  its  fertility.*    The  erosion  of  the  hillsides 
was  destroying  thousands  of  acres  every  year.     "If 
these  slopes  were  thrown  into  permanent  teiTaces, 
with  turfed  or  stone-faced  escarpments,  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  might  be  preserved,  even  with  constant 
tillage.    In  this  way  the  hills  would  continue  for 
ages  to  produce  annual  crops  at  greater  value  than 
those  which  are  at  present  obtained  from  them  at 
such  destructive  expense,  from  ten  to  twenty  crops 
of    cotton    rendering    them   absolute   deserts.     But 
with  negroes  at  fourteen  hundred  dollars  a  head, 
and  fresh  lands  in  Texas  at  half  a  dollar   an   acre, 
nothing  of  this  sort  can  be  thought  of."^ 

The  cost  of  maintaining  a  force  ui  slavrs  was  less 


■^^;$mil^ 


PirKIN(i    CoTTOV. 


■•'<'. 

*-> 

--    '-•'     ■ 

^R 

Liiy 

^ 

>»  ■ 

1 

* 

•  .] 


I'llilrr  tllL'    -lM\r  rc'liUIH'. 


\,   « 


mimi^ 


"!(if^s:^?i^s?. 


THE  CURSE  OF  SLAVERY 


327 


than  for  the  same  number  of  free  men.  The  cabins 
provided  for  the  slaves  were  mere  log  enclosures 
"without  windows,  covered  by  slabs  of  hewn  wood 
four  feet  long.  The  great  chinks  are  stopped  with 
whatever  comes  to  hand  —  a  wad  of  cotton  here,  and 
a  com-shuck  there."  *  The  rations  werf  coarse  and 
not  always  abundant,  a  peck  of  corn  and  four  pounds 
of  pork  a  week  for  each  person,  with  a  treat  of 
molasses  and  tobacco  at  Christmas.  This  with  the 
necessary  clothing  and  blankets  meant  an  annual 
expenditure  of  $25  per  head.  (It  was  usual  to  allow 
every  family  a  plot  of  ground  on  which  to  grow 
vegetables  and  chickens.)  The  heavy  expenditures 
were  represented  in  the  purchase  price  of  the  slaves,  — 
an  expense  which  the  unwholesome  climate  and  ex- 
hausting labor  renewed  with  alarming  frequency, — and 
the  cost  of  superintendence.  Every  gang  of  workers 
must  have  a  "driver,"  usually  a  negro,  and  every 
plantation  must  have  at  least  one  overseer.  The 
salary  paid  an  overseer  varied  from  $200  to  $2000 
according  to  his  reputation  for  results,  —  reckoned  in 
the  number  of  bales  of  cotton  or  pounds  of  sugar  per 
acre  or  per  hand.  Pressure  was  thus  brought  upon 
the  overseer  to  exploit  the  land,  the  draft  animals, 
and  the  labor  force,  regardless  of  the  permanent 
interests  of  the  plantation.  "Overseers  are  not 
interested  in  raising  children,  or  meat,  in  improving 
land,  or  improving  productive  qualities  of  seed,  or 
animals.  Many  of  them  do  not  care  whether  the 
property  has  depreciated  or  improved,  so  they  have 
made  a  crop  [of  cotton]  to  boast  of."  ^  Few  of  the 
landowners  of  southern  Looisiana  lived  upon  their 


i' 


1    1 


i    ■  ! 


u 


I 

,1  I 

'f    I 


i;* 


it 


t 

<    1 ' 
I 


ti  i 


^;^^^^:mT^^^;ms^sms^^m^ 


l! 


!  'I 


[■  -■ 


\ 


l!l 


328  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

estates,  and  the  overseers  were  left  to  manage  or 
mismanage  the  property  as  suited  their  purposes 

In  journeying  to  Texas,   Olmsted  followed  the 
great  emigrant  road  from  Natchitoches.    It  could 
hardly  be  called  a  road,  being   uerely  an  mdistmct 
trail  through  the  pine  barrens,  a.->ng  which  every 
rider  and   driver   chose  his   own  path.    Emigrant 
trains  were  frequently  overtaken,  -  three  or  four 
wagon-loads  of  furniture  and  farm  implements,  a 
light  cart  or  two  for  the  white  women  and  children, 
and  a  drove  of  slaves.     "The  negroes,  mud-encrusted, 
wrapped  in  old  blankets  or  gummy  bags,  suffering 
from  cold,  plod  on,  aimless,  hopeless,  thoughtless, 
more  indifferent,  apparently,  than  the  oxen,  to  all 
about   them."«    Their   goal   was   the   fat   bottom 
lands  of  the  Trinity  and  Guadalupe  rivers,  where 
cotton  still  bore  three  bales  to  the  acre.     Much  of 
the  land  along  the  Sabine  had  already  been  ex- 
hausted and  was  growing  up  to  "old-field  pines. ' 
The  New  England  observer  thought  that  in  eastern 
Texas  a  larger  area  had  been  abandoned  than  re- 
mained under  cultivation,   and  the  empty  cabins 
and  wrecks  of  plantations  gave  the  country  a  deso- 
late   air.     All    the    more    enterprising    people    had 
„    ed  on  to  fresh  lands  farther  west,  and  estates 
v...e  selling  at  less  than  the  cost  of  improvements. 
Even  the  cattle  ranges  were  exhausted  —  the  cane 
and  blue-joint  grass  having  been  eaten  off  —  and  the 
great  herds  were  being  driven  to  the  uplands  north 
and  west  of  the  San  Antonio  Road.     For  the  care 
of  cattle,   the   negroes  had    no   aptitude,   and   the 
herders  were  usually  of  Spanish  origin. 


^^w 


THE  CURSE  OF  SLAVERY 


329 


The  cotton  planters  of  Texas  were  almost  all 
poor,  even  in  the  fertile  districts  where  the  yield 
was  from  seven  to  ten  bales  per  hand.  With  cotton 
selling  at  twenty  cents  a  pound,  the  income  was 
considerable ;  but  the  outgo  was  heavy.  The  bulk 
of  the  money  went  for  supplies  of  food  and  clothing, 
for  fresh  slaves  and  cattle,  and  there  was  little  left 
for  luxuries.  Most  of  the  planters  were  living  in 
one-room  cabins  with  mud  chimneys.  The  better 
sort  of  dwellings  consisted  of  two  log-cabins  con- 
nected by  a  roofed-over  platform,  with  at  most  a 
gallery  or  piazza  running  along  the  front.  Even 
an  old  settler  had  been  able  to  do  no  better  for 
his  family  than  the  one-room  cabin.  "The  room 
was  fourteen  feet  square,  with  battens  of  split 
boards  tacked  on  between  the  broader  openings  of 
the  logs.  Above,  it  was  open  to  the  rafters,  and 
in  many  places  the  sky  could  be  seen  between  the 
shingles  of  the  roof.  A  rough  board  box,  three  feet 
square,  with  a  shelf  in  it,  contained  the  crockery 
ware  of  the  establishment ;  another  similar  box 
held  the  store  of  meal,  coffee,  sugar,  and  salt :  .  .  .  A 
canopy  bed  filled  one  quarter  of  the  room ;  a  cradle, 
four  chairs  seated  with  untanned  deerhide,  a  table, 
a  skillet  or  bake-kcttle,  a  coffee  kettle,  a  frying  pan, 
anil  a  rifle  laid  across  two  wooden  pegs  on  the 
cliinmey,  with  a  string  of  patches,  powder  horn, 
pouch,  and  hunting  knife,  completed  the  furniture 
of  the  house."'  The  state  of  the  outhouses  and 
garden  (wherever  a  garden  was  attempted)  indi- 
cated a  hopeless  shiftlessness,  and  it  was  difficult  to 
find  at  any  of  these  plantations  suitable  accommo- 


fi 


>  i 


I '    i 


il  M 


r   I 


iv      t 


t 


lu 


1 


330  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

dation  for  man  or  hofse.    There  was  a  general  lack 
of  flour,  sugar,  butter,  wheat  bread,  or  beef.     The 
only  fresh  meat  was  furnished  by  the  universal  hog. 
The  explanation  of  this  general  lack  of  comfort  was 
to  be  found  in  the  complete  divorce  between  intelli- 
gence and  labor.    Olmsted  quotes  the  comment  of  a 
woman  who  had  been  brought  up  at  the  North: 
"The  only  reason  the  people  didn't  have  any  com- 
fort here  was,  that  they  wouldn't  take  any  trouble 
to  get  -.nything.    Anything  that  their  negroes  could 
make,  they  would  eat;    but  they  would  take  no 
pains  to  instruct  them,  or  to  get  anything  that  didn't 
grow  on  the  plantation.     A  neighbor  of  hers  owned 
fifty  cov's  ...  but  very  rarely  had  any  milk  and 
scarcely  ever  any  butter,  simply  because  his  people 
were  too  lazy  to  milk  or  churn,  and  he  wouldn't 
take  the  trouble  to  make  them."  " 

Two  Ohio  men  who  went  up  the  Missouri  in  1854 
concluded  that  shiftlessness  was  the  leading  char- 
acteristic of  life  in  a  slave-holding  region.  "We 
were  informed  by  a  Missourian,  —  a  ci^-en  of  a  town 
of  four  thousand  inhabitants,  —  that  if  a  carriage 
axle  was  bent  or  broken,  it  could  not  be  repaired 
in  the  place;  and  we  were  elsewhere  informed, 
that,  throughout  the  beautiful  farming  region  of  the 
Upper  Missouri,  so  far  from  manufacturing  farming 
implements,   not  even  a  plough  could  be  properly 

repaired."  " 

The  fundamental  difficulty  with  slave  labor  was 
that  slaves  took  no  interest  in  their  work.  The 
conditions  imposed  upon  them  offered  no  incentive 
t(i  put  forth  energy,   mental  or  physical.    Every 


y^*'.j£^ 


aeiaRjaaa&jiMfeufflM 


THE  CURSE  OF  SLAVERY 


331 


task  was  performed  under  compulsion,  and  the  la?h 
of  the  driver  was  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  all 
labor.     Farther,  the  slave  had  no  concern  for  his 
master's  prop'^rty.    Animals  were  abused,  tools  lost 
or  broken,  seed  wasted.    Intensive  cultivation,  rota- 
tion of  crops,  conservation  of  the  soil,  were  all  im- 
possible under  a  regime  that  offered  no  reward  for 
fideUty  and  ingenuity.    Depletion  of  the  land  was, 
by  consequence,   rapid   and   universal.     Even   the 
black  loam  of  the  river  bottoms  was  sapped  of  its 
fertility.    Southerners  of  the  more  intelligent  type 
recognized  the  fatal  defects  of  slave  labor  and  would 
have  been  glad  to  be  rid  of  its  risks  and  responsi- 
bilities ;  but  emancipation  seemed  to  involve  worse 
evils.     All  observers  agree  that  the  condition  of  the 
freed  blacks  was,  in  general,  inferior  to  that  of  the 
slaves;  for  these  were  sure  of  food  and  clothing, 
at  least,  and  were  guarded  against  liquor  and  vaga- 
bondage.   The  various  attempts  to  emancipate  and 
transport  the  negroes  had  come  to  little,  and  yet 
some  provision  must  be  made  for  the  increase  of  the 
African  population.     In  the  minds  of  the  leading 
Southern  statesmen,  there  was  but  one  solution  of 
the  dilemma,  new  territory  to  which  slave  owners 
might  migrate  with  their  working  force.     The  pro- 
gressive exhaustion  of  the  old  soils  must  be  made 
good  in  fresh  lands  suited  to  the  slave  economy. 
Directly  west,  nature  had  raised  a  physical  barrier 
in  the  "staked  plains"  of  Texas  and  the  arid  wastes 
of  the  upper  Arkansas,  but  to  the  north  lay  the 
Great  Plains,  a  region  that  was  just  coming  to  public 
notice  as  having  an  agricultural  future. 


t  I 


",<    \ 


^    U 


1 1 


'  1 


V  1 


CHAPTER  II 


U' 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 

All  explorers  of  the  Great  Plains,  the  vast  moor- 
land stretching  from  the  one-hundredth  parallel  to 
the  Roc"  y  Mountains  and  from  the  Arkansas  River 
to  the  British  boundary,  had  expressed  the  con- 
viction that  the  region  was  unsuited  to  settlement. 
Pike  and  Brackenridge,  Long  and  Gregg,  were  con- 
vinced that—  treeless  except  along  the  watercourses, 
with  inadequate  rainfall  and  unpromising  soil— the 
Plains  were  not  adapted  to  agriculture.     As  late  as 
1856  Colonel  Emory  stated  in  an  address  to  the 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science:  "Ex- 
cept on  the  borders  of  the  streams  which  traverse 
these  plains  in  their  course  to  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  scarcely  anything  exists  deservmg  the 
name  of  vegetation.    The  soil  is  composed  of  dis- 
integrated rocks  covered  by  a  loam  an  inch  or  two  in 
thickness,  which  is  composed  of  the  exutncB  of  animals 
and  decayed  vegetable  matter.    The  growth  on  them 
is  principally  a  short  but   nutritious  grass,  called 
buffalo  grass.   A  narrow  strip  of  alluvial  soil,  support- 
ing a  coarse  grass  and  a  few  cottonwood  trees,  marks 
the  line  of  the  watercourses;  which  of  themselves 
are  sufficiently  few  a  id  far  between.    Whatever  may 
be  said  to  the  contrary,  these  plains  west  ol  the 
one  hundredth  meridian  are   wholly  unsusceptible 

332 


tms^^w;^- 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES         333 

of  sustaining  even  a  pastoral  population  until  you 
reach  sufficiently  far  south  to  encounter  the  rains 
from  the  tropics."  He  thought  most  people  had  been 
misled  by  "  estimating  the  soil  alone,  which  is  generally 
good,  without  giving  due  weight  to  the  infrequency 
of  rains,  or  the  absence  of  the  necessary  humidity 
in  the  atmosphere  to  produce  a  profitable  vegeta- 
tion." For  a  century  to  come,  the  scientists  were 
assured,  civilized  man  would  cUng  to  the  alluvial 
lands  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  valley,  relin- 
quishing the  prairies  to  the  nomad  Indian  tribes, 
to  whom,  because  of  the  abundance  of  game,  they 
were  a  terrestrial  paradise.  In  pursuance  of  this 
theory,  the  government  had  located  here  the  reser- 
vations of  the  Delawares,  Wyandottes,  and  other 
tribes  removed  from  east  of  the  Mississippi.  It 
was  a  tenantless  land  crossed  by  the  caravans  of  the 
Santa  F6  traders  and  by  emigrant  wagons  bound  to 
Utah,  Oregon,  or  California.  The  pioneers  thought 
•jf  the  Plains  much  as  European  emigrants  thought 
of  the  Atlantic,  as  an  unfortunate  barrier  between 
the  old  home  and  the  new  which  must  be  traversed  at 
serious  cost  in  time  and  hardship.  The  only  excep- 
tion, so  far  as  the  overlanders  knew,  was  the  valley  of 
the  Kansas  River,  where  the  rich  growth  of  grass  and 
flowers  gave  some  indication  of  future  productivity. 
The  attention  of  Congress  was  first  called  to  the 
latent  possibilities  of  Nebraska  Territory  by  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  senator  from  Illinois,  who  hoped  to 
develop  the  region  in  the  interests  of  a  northerly 
route  for  the  much-discussed  railway  to  the  Pacific. 
In  1844,  in  1848,  and  again  in  1852,  he  introduced 


'1 


If 


\  ! 


i!  \\ 

( 


t;  ■ 


t  i  \- 


I  t    i 


i    ! 


r^^hf^w^^m-^^ 


'jmm^^m^p 


"Ml 


m 


m 


334  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

bills   proposing   territorial   organization.    The  last 
measure  incorporated  Dr.  Whitman's  suggestion  ha 
military  stations  be  planted  along  the  overland   rai 
where  food  might  be  raised  and  sold  at  prices  that 
would   render   the   posts   self-supporting.     Soldiers 
were  to  be  provided  by  the  enlistment  of  such  volun- 
teers as  nnght  be  attracted  by  a  land  bounty  of  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  awarded  for  a  three  years 
term    of    service.      The    proposition  to  open  this 
territory  to  settlers  aroused  unwonted  interest,  not 
because  of  the  known  resources  of  the  country  in- 
volved, but  because  the  question  of  the  extension  of 

slavery  was  reopened.  ,    ^  ^     ,  oco  o^r 

The  Missouri  Compromise  had  fixed  upon  3b   6i} 
as  the  boundary  between  slave  and  free  territory 
but  the  admission  of  California  as  a  free  state  seemed 
to  abrogate  this   agreement.    The  provision  that 
New  Mexico  and  Utah  were  open  to  slave  labor 
was  but  a  barren  victory  for  the  South,  since  these 
arid  lands  were  not  suited  to  wholesale  cultivation 
Under  existing    conditions  it  was  inevitable  that 
free  states  would  be  created  so  rapidly  as  soon  to 
overthrow   the  balance   of  power  in   the  Federa 
government  on  which  the  continued  existence  of 
slavery  was  held  to  depend.    There  was  but  one 
resource  for  the  determined  supporters  of  slavery, 
the  opening  of  new  slave  territory   north  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line.    The  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,  introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  IR.^4  bv  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  now  chairman  ot 
the  Committee  on  Territories,  declared  this  com- 
promise unconstitutional  and  therefore  "inoperative 


•SSffiS^  / 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES         335 

and  void"  and  announced  the  new  principle  of  non- 
intervention. The  people  of  a  territory,  and  they 
alone,  were  competent  to  determine  what  labor 
system  should  prevail  among  them.  Congress  could 
do  no  more  than  organize  such  territories  "with  or 
without  slavery  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe 
at  the  time  of  their  admission."  In  spite  of  the 
energetic  opposition  of  the  Free  Soil  party  and  of 
such  Democrats  as  Thomas  H.  Benton,  who  held 
that  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  a  pact  that  could 
not  honorably  be  broken,  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 
was  carried  through  both  houses  and  received  the 
signature  of  President  Pierce  on  May  30,  1854. 
Thus  was  it  determined  that  the  momentous  question 
whether  slave  or  free  labor  was  to  dominate  the 
West  was  to  be  tried  out  on  the  ground  d  that 
victory  would  rest  with  the  section  that  ild  fur- 
nish the  most  successful  colonizers.  The  Territory 
of  Kansas  was  deUmited  at  the  fortieth  parallel  and 
opened  for  settlement,  the  Indian  tribes  being 
removed.^ 

Popular  Sovereigtity 

The  free  state  men  accepted  the  challenge.  Eli 
Thayer,  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  brought  forward  a  plan  that  gave  new  hope 
to  the  baffled  opponents  of  slavery.  The  rich  lands 
of  Kansas  must  be  colonized  with  men  from  the 
North,  —  men  who  could  be  counted  on  to  cast 
their  votes,  when  the  test  came,  against  the  exten- 
sion of  the  hated  institution.  On  April  26,  1854, 
more  than  a  month  before  the  signing  of  the  Kansas- 


^^i 


!' 


i^i ! 


it  ■' 
ii  I  i 


f  I 


r  \ 


! 


(1       I   " 


.«K:^:iS^^feSS?;^^^^«i:5s?^?^'^8^3dSI»yi%i7-^^ 


*.  i 


i^ 


f  'l>'f  i 


336 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


Nebraska  Act,  he  induced  the  legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts to  incorporate  the  Emigrant  Aid  Company, 
and  readily  secured  the  aid  of  Amos  A.  Lawrence 
and  other  business  men  of  Boston  in  getting  together 
a  capital  of  S140,000.     His  Plan  of  Freedom  was 
entirely  pacific  and  offered  a  means  of  circumventing 
the  slave  power  without  any  violatioir  of  the  law  or 
the  Constitution,  —  without  menace  to  the  Union. 
It  enlisted  the  coidial  support  of  the  best  men  in 
New   England   and   the   North.    Edward   Everett 
Hale,  Horace  Bushnell,  Theodore  Parker,  the  Beechers, 
and  thousands  of  lesser  clergymen  lent  their  pul- 
pits and  their  voices  to  the  propaganda.    Edward 
Everett  Hale  was  one  of  the  first  and  ablest  of 
Thayer's  assistants.     He  had  written  a  pamphlet  in 
1845    (apropos    of    the    Joint   Resolution    for   the 
annexation  of  Texas),  proposing  to  colonize  Texas 
with  men  from  the  free  states ;  but  bis  appeal  foil 
on   deaf  ears.    The   odds  were   then  too   hea\nly 
against    the    antislavery   men.     The  Boston  Daily 
Advertiser,  the  New  York  Tribune,  the  New  York 
Evening  Post,  the  Springfield  Republican,  and  hun- 
dreds of  local  papers  throughout   the  free  states 
printed  vigorous  editorials  in  behalf  of  "the  Kansas 
Crusade"  and  eagerly  reported  the  course  of  events. 
Eli  Thayer  threw  himself  into  the  campaign  heart 
and  soul,   addressing  audiences  that  crowded  the 
churches  and  lyceum  halls  from  the  Penobscot  to 
the  Schuylkill.     Farther  west,  Cincinnati  and  Ober- 
lin    furnished    men    who    carried    the    propaganda 
throughout  the  Old  Northwest.     An  eniigrani  aid 
company  was  organized  in  New  York  City,  another 


.^jB^-mi^s^-sc 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 


337 


at  Albany,  and  another  in  Wa  ^hington,  and  Kansas 
leagues  were  formed  in  hundreds  of  smaller  towns. 
Young  men  from  the  hill  towns  of  New  England, 
from  the  exhausted  farms  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  the  malaria-haunted  prairies  of  Illinois, 
enlisted  for  the  free-soil  crusade,  actuated  by  the 
desire  to  better  their  own  condition  as  well  as  to 
contribute  their  share  toward  checking  the  spread  of 
slavery. 

The  advantages  of  emigration  on  a  large  scale  were 
soon  evident.  On  the  understanding  that  twenty 
thousand  people  would  move  to  Kansas  within  three 
years,  the  new  railways  that  were  competing  with  the 
Ohio  stea..  ,  for  the  Mississippi  River  traffic  of- 
fered reduce.,  rates,  and  a  fare  of  $37  from  Boston  to 
Kansas  City  was  arranged.  A  receiving  station  was 
opened  at  St.  Louis,  a  hotel  was  purchased  at  Kansas 
City,  and  agents  were  despatched  to  the  several 
points  of  transfer  to  guard  the  emigrants  against 
extortion  and  fraud.  Town  sites  were  chosen  and 
desirable  lands  designated  by  men  familiar  with  the 
territory,  machinery  was  purchased  and  forwarded  at 
i.^ecostof  the  Company, — a  sawmill  being  set  to  work 
at  everj'-  point  where  a  colony  was  projected, — grist- 
mills and  printing-presses  followed,  and  S2000  was 
contributed  to  the  financing  of  the  first  newspaper, 
the  Herald  of  Freedom.^ 

Charles  Robinson,  a  "forty-niner"  who  had  led 
the  squatters'  rising  in  Sacramento,  was  the  very  ef- 
fective agent  in  the  field.  Charles  H.  Branscomb 
took  charge  of  the  ^mie,rant  parties,  while  Samuel  C. 
Pomeroy  served  as  financial  agent  at  Kansas  City. 


VOL.  II 


n 


\  I 


i\  'I  \ 


'I 


r 


\  i 


!'    H 


\     ' 


I  t    I 


^^as^^smjm^B^SM^sgs^^siSi^aKsgs^^^&ms^s^i^sS''^^KS^!^s^mEM^ 


338 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


41 


i : 


»  , 


The  first  group  of  twenty-nine  men  left  Boston, 
July  17,  1854,  going  by  rail  to  Buffalo.    Their  jour- 
ney was  a  triumphal  progress.     At  every  station 
they  were  met  by  crowds  who  cheered  the  advance- 
guard  of  the  army  of  freedom,  and  the  local  press 
chronicled  their  movements  day  by  day.     At  Buf- 
falo, they  transferred  to  the  steamer  Plymouth  Rock 
and'  crossed   Lake   Erie   to   Detroit.     Thence   tb.e 
railroad  carried  them  to  Chicago  and  to  Alton,  whore 
they  boarded  river  boats  for  Kansas  City.      There 
Branscomb  took  the  party  in  charge  and  led  them  up 
the  Kaw  River  to  the  site  of  Lawrence.     A  second 
party  of  sixty-six  men  followed  in  August,  and  five 
companies  with  seven  hundred  and  fifty  emigrants 
went  in  the  course  of  the  year.     Each  party  doubled 
and  trebled  its  numbers  en  route,  and  many  went  out 
quite  independently  of  the  New  England  Emigrant 
Aid   Company.     The  books  of    the    Boston    office 
showed  during  the  course  of  the  first  three  years  of 
its  operation  three  thousand  names  of  prospective 
e'  igrants,—  intelligent  and  resolute  men  for  the  most 
part,  ready  to  die  if  need  be  for  the  sake  of  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  they  had  risked  their  personal  for- 
tunes.    Most  of  those  men  could  write  and  writ- 
cffoctively,  and  their  letters  home,  eagerly  awaited 
and  read  at  the  village  post-offices,  at  church  mootiiiK^ 
and  lyceums,  or  printed  in  tiio  columns  of  the  an<i- 
slavery  press,  fired  the  enthusiasm  of  thousands  more. 
After  1856  there  was  no  more  need  for  the  emigrant 
aid  societies.     The  colonists  orgai\ized  on  their  own 
account  and  moved  on  Kansas  by  thousands ;  for  it 
was  coming  to  be  understooti  that  the  once  despixii 


'^jif.jSSem 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 


339 


Plains  comprised  some  of  the  best  farming  country 
in  the  West. 

Boynton  and  Mason,  the  commissioners  sent  out 
by  the  Kansas  I^eague  of  Cincinnaii  in  the  autumn 
of  1854  to  inspect  this  latest  "new  land  of  promise, " 
thought  the  soil  of  eastern  Kansas  as  fertile  as  that 
of  Missouri  and  the  rainfall  of  thirty  inches  quite 
adequate  for  agriculture.     The  arid  plains  of  the  cen- 
tral section  were  covered  with  buffalo  grass,  the  best 
of  pasturage,  and  the  rivers  that  traversed  the  dis- 
trict from  west  to  east  afforded  a  sufficient  water 
supply.     Here    was    an    admirable    cattle    country, 
while    the    mountainous    region    bordering   on    the 
Rockies  would    furnish    water-power  only  compa- 
rable to  that  of  New  England.     Forest  growth  on  the 
uplands  was  kept  down  by  prairie  fires,  which  must 
cease  to  be  dangerous  as  the  land  was  brought  under 
cultivation ;  but  along  the  streams  there  was  abun- 
dant timber  for  immediate  need.     A  treeless  country 
had  its  advantages,  since  the  cost  of  clearing  land  was 
slight,  and  the  plough  met  no  obstacles  in  turning 
over  the  sod.     Building  material  for  all  time  was  pro- 
vided in  the  underlying  strata  of  hme  and  sandstone, 
while  the  outcropping  ledges  of  coal  promised  fuel 
for  tlio  future.      The  osage  orange  furnished  an  ad- 
mirable hedging   plant  which   formed  a   hog-proof 
harrier  in  three  years'  growth.     For  house-building,  a 
temporary  expedient  tliat    gave  warm  shelter  was 
prairie  sod  or  sun-dried  l.rick  such  as  the  Mormons 
'.vore  using.     "In  three  years  after  locating  upon  the 
open  prairie,  a  man  may  have  his  farm  surrounded 
aiifi  divided  by  hetiges ;  hiw  dwelling  adorned  with 


\i 


I 


i' 


"t  i 


l: 


(. 


t 


It 


,t 


1  \ 


340  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

shrubbery,  and  young  shade  trees  —  several  kinds 
of  fruit  trees  and  grapevines  in  bearing  —  and  if  he 
pleases,  a  young  forest,  already  capable  of  supplying 
him  with  some  small  timber." ' 

The    cost   of   taking   up    land    under   the    pre- 
emption  law   was    moderate  —  $1.25    per   acre — 
and  the  first  ploughing  could  be  accomplished,  even 
when  men  and  teams  were  hired,  at  charge  of  $2.25 
per  acre.    The  prairie  soil  might  be  counted  on  to 
produce  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn, 
forty  bus'. '.Is  of  oats,  twenty  bushels  of  wheat,  two 
hundred  bushels  of  potatoes,  or  one  thousand  pounds 
of  hemp  per  acre.    The  value  of  hemp  was  $120  per 
ton,  and  it  was  already  a  staple  export  from  northern 
Missouri.    An  excellent  market  for  all  food-stuffs,  as 
well  as  for  cattle  and  horses,  was  provided  by  tl\e 
emigrant  trains  to  Oregon  and  California  and  the 
caravans  that  still  went  over  the  Santa  F6  Trail. 
Boynton  was  convinced  that  Kansas  would  never  bo  a 
slave  state.    The  crops  to  which  by  soil  and  climate 
its  agriculture  was   adapted  —  corn,   wheat,   oats, 
cattle  —  were  not  suited  to  slave  culture,  nor  was  the 
quarter-section  farm  consistent  with  slave  economy. 
Emigration,  moreover,  follows  parallels  of  latitude, 
and  tew  Southerners  would  care  to  face  the  severe 
winters  of  the  Platte  Valley.     The  people  who  came 
into  Kansas  from  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
Missouri  were  usually  "poor  whites"  who  broufiht 
no  slavps.     llanters  did  not  care  to  risk  so  valuable 
a  property  in  a  territory  from  which  slavery  migiit 
^jjljitiittplv  ho  doharred. 

Kansas  was  the  poor  man's  opportunity.     To  take 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES        341 

advantage  of  the  preemption  law,  a  man  must  swear 
that  he  held  no  other  claim  and  owned  no  more  than 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  elsewhere. 
In  order  to  secure  his  title,  he  must  prove  that  he  had 
built  a  house  upon  his  claim  and  "improved  and  in- 
habited" the  land  for  at  least  one  year.  Since  the 
lands  of  the  Kaw  Valley  had  not  yet  been  surveyed  by 
the  government,  settlers  would  have  fully  two  years 
in  which  to  accumulate  the  $200  due  the  land  office. 
The  Emigrant  Aid  office  estimated  that  a  man  did 
not  need  more  than  SlOO  to  start  with. 

In  the  autumn  of  1854,  there  were  several  steainers 
plying  on  the  Missouri  between  St.  Louis  and  Wes- 
ton, the  then  depot  for  the  emigrant  and  Santa  F6 
trade.  The  voyage  was  still  a  precarious  one  and 
taxed  the  ingenuity  of  boat-builders,  as  evidenced 
by  Boynton  and  Mason's  description  of  tn  ir  steamer. 
"The  boat  is  provided  with  heavy  spars  some  fifty 
feet  long,  which  are  set  out  over  the  sides,  Uke  the 
legs  of  giants,  and  by  means  of  the  proper  machin- 
ery, worked  by  the  capstan,  the  weight  of  the  boat 
is  partly  suspended  u;>on  her  legs,  and  she  Utemllij 
'walks  the  water  like  a  thing  of  life.'  "  ••  The  journey 
to  Kansas  City,  the  new  post  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kaw  River,  required  three  or  four  days  and  cost  S12 
U'ahin  passage).  Freight  rates  were  $1.50  per  hun- 
dredweight in  the  fall  when  the  water  was  low.  In 
the  spring,  when  the  Ohio  Rivers  boat  could  run 
lip  the  Missouri,  competition  brought  the  rate  down 
to  twenty-five  cents  per  hundredweight.  Kansas 
City  was  a  prosperous  village  of  from  six  hundred 
to  one  thousand  inhabitants.     Lying  at  the  junction 


i. 


fi 


r 


!,         < 


ii ,.,. 


342  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

of  two  navigable  rivers,  and  possessing  the  rare  ad- 
vantage of  a  high  bluff  and  a  "natural  limestone 
wharf  "  it  had  the  chance  of  becoming  the  com- 


The  Kansas  Settlements,  1855. 


mercial  outlet  for  a  great  farming  region  and  was 
already  contending  with  Weston  for  the    emigrant 
trade.     Farther  up  the  Missouri  and  on  the  west- 
ern bank  was  Leavenworth,  a  squatter  settlemoiit 
where    twelve    hundred    Missourians    had    staked 
their  claims  in  the  heart  of  the  Delaware  reserva- 
tion,  in  deaance   of    the    United    States    autiiori- 
ties.     "There  was  one  steam-engine,  naked  as  when 
it  was  born,  but  at  work,  sawing  out  its  own  clothes. 
There  were  four  tents  all  on  one  street,   a  barrel  of 
water  or  whiskey  under  a  tree,  and  a  pot,  on  a  polo 
over  a  fire.     Under  a  tree,  a  type-sticker  had  his  ease 
before  him,  and  was  at  work  on  the  first  number  of 
tiie  new  paper,  and  within  a  frame,  .vitliout  a  board 
on  side  or  roof,  was  the  editor's  desk  and  sanctum/"^ 
^Vhen  tho  Cincinnati  commissioners  came  down  t'le 
river  a  few  weeks  later,  the  editor  had  removed  his 


J 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 


343 


office  to  the  "corner  of  Broadway  and  the  levee." 
Lawrence  was  hardly  more  miposing,  being  a  "city 
of  tents,"  although  its  population  was  made  up  of  six 
hundred  heads  of  families.  Emigrants  from  New 
England  did  not  often  bring  their  women  and  chil- 
dren, fearing  to  expose  them  to  the  hardships  of  the  first 
winter.  All  the  best  land  in  the  Kaw  Valley  as  far 
as  Fort  Riley  was  already  preempted,  since  this  was 
regarded  as  the  most  favored  portion  of  the  territory. 
The  steamers  and  flatboats  that  ran  up  the  river  as 
far  as  the  Fort  when  the  water  was  liigh  afforded  the 
all-important  transportation  facilities.  Here  was 
Topeka  with  four  hundred  inhabitants  and  a  town 
site  of  two  square  miles.  Two  steam  sawmills  be- 
longing to  the  New  England  Emigrant  Aid  Company 
were  sawing  out  lumber  for  the  house-builders  at  $10 
per  thousand  feet.  A  printing-press  was  already 
set  up,  and  the  Company's  store  was  selling  food-stuffs 
at  lef5S  than  market  prices.  The  Boston  philanthro- 
pists were  doing  for  this  frontier  what  Dr.  McLough- 
lin  had  done  for  the  Oregon  emigiants  and  what  the 
Mormon  church  was  still  doing  for  its  proteges. 
"It  strips  emigration  of  its  terrors, and  renders  the 
sottling  of  a  new  country  a  safe,  easy  and  profitable 
operation,  even  for  the  pioneers."^  The  scheme  of 
emigration  differed  from  that  undertaken  by  the  Mor- 
mon church  in  that  every  emigrant  paid  his  way, 
inude  his  own  choice  of  location,  and  laid  claim  to 
land  on  his  own  initiative.  lie  was  not  oven  under 
expressed  obligation  to  use  his  vote  or  his  influence 
against  slavery. 
Meantime  the  slav '  interests  had  not  been  idle. 


P 


t 


>f 


'^m^^^-'^r^ 


i 


\t'\: 


m 


Ir- 


344  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

Organized  emigration  had  long  been  customary  in 
the  South.    For  forty  years,  slave  owners  had  been 
sending  younger  sons  and  superfluous  slaves  west- 
ward—to  Georgia,    to   Mississippi,    to    Texas - 
with  the  full  assurance  that  they  could  occupy  and 
dominate  the  new  territories.    But  migration  north- 
ward, into  a  region  where  not  cotton  and  sugar,  but 
corn,  wheat,  and  oats  would  be  the  staple  crops,  was 
a  far  more  difficult  matter.    Slave  labor  might  not 
prove  profitable,  and  free  laborers  were  not  to  be  hud 
for  such  a  venture.    The  issue  was  clearly  foreseen. 
The  Charlestown  Mercury  announced  :  "  If  the  South 
secures  Kansas,  she  will  extend  slavery  into  all  the 
territory  south  of  the  fortieth  parallel  of  north  lati- 
tude, to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  this,  of  course,  will  secure 
for  her  pent  up  institution  of  slavery  an  ample  out  lot. 
and  restore  her  power  in  Congress.    If  the  North 
secures  Kansas,  the  power  of  the  South  in  Congrt-s 
will  gradually  be  diminished,  the  states  of  Missouri, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and  Texas,  together 
with  the  adjacent  territories,  will  gradually  become 
Abolitionized,  and  the  slave  population,  confined  to 
the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi,  will  become  value- 
less.   All  depends  upon  the  action  of  the  present 
moment."  '    Certain  Southern  patriots  responded  to 
this  plea.    Major  Buford  of   Alabama  recruited  a 
party  of  three  hundred  adventurous  young  men  ai  d 
paid  their  expenses  for  a  year's  campaign,  on  the 
understanding  that  each  volunteer  would  make  over 
half  of  his  squatter'-  claim  to  the  financier  of  the 
expedition.    The  Lafayptto  rmieration  Soci«4y  was 
set  on  foot  in  Missouri  on  terms  somewhat  less  thrift} . 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES         315 


r'!i 


There  was,  however,  no  considerable  migration  from 
the  slave  states  except  from  the  region  that  lay- 
directly  east  of  Kansas.  In  the  frontier  communities 
of  northern  Missouri,  there  were  plenty  of  reckless 
spirits  —  broken-down  trappers,  disappointed  gold- 
seekers,  seedy  veterans  of  the  Mexican  War  —  eager 
to  move  across  the  border  and  lay  claim  to  any  promis- 
ing land,  regardless  of  Indian  reservations  or  pre- 
emption rights.  In  the  autumn  of  1854  they  flooded 
the  Kansas  Valley,  planting  stakes  and  registering 
claims  wherever  a  colony  of  free  state  men  was 
projected.*  Speculators  and  blackmailers  joined  in 
this  attempt  to  dispossess  the  men  who  had  first  filed 
on  the  land  and  who,  by  settling  thereon,  had  given 
it  market  value.  The  policy  of  Robinson,  derived 
from  his  California  experience,  was  to  induce  his 
men  to  ignore  bullying,  to  stand  by  their  civil 
rights  and  wait  for  the  law  to  take  its  course.  It  took 
courage  to  adhere  to  this  programme,  since  the  Mis- 
sourians  were  known  to  be  unscrupulous  as  to  the 
means  used,  and  the  Federal  government,  with  Pierce 
in  the  presidential  chair  and  Jeflferson  Davis  secre- 
tary of  war,  could  not  be  relied  on  for  abstract 
justice ;  but  the  law-abiding  element  possessed  their 
souls  in  patience,  for  they  believed  that  regard  for 
constituted  authority-- as  essential  to  the  ordered 
development  of  society  as  is  self-control  in  the  indi- 
vidual—  must  prevail  in  the  end. 

By  the  autumn  of  1854  there  were  eight  "^housand 
people  in  Kansas.  full.y  half  of  them  from  the  free 
^'tntos.  Sinco  tho  Tprtt  ninif^ritv  f>f  th.o  ^orthorn 
itmniirrnnts  were  adult   men,   it  was  thought  this 


!  1 


(  ! 


1!-^ 


346 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


m      H 


t- 


element  could  outvote  the  pro-slavery  faction   by 
five  to  one.«     Unable  to  settle  the  country  as  rapidly 
as  the  free  state  men  were  doing,  the  proslavery 
leaders  determined  to  control  the  elections.    Blue 
lodges  and  other  secret  societies  were  organized  for 
this  purpose,  under  the  direction  of  General  D.  0. 
Atchinson,  senator  from  Missouri,  and  no    effort 
was  made   to    conceal    their  intention.     Bands  of 
"border  ruffians"  rode  across  the  Missouri  fine,— 
daring,  lawless  men,  imbued  with  the  individualistic 
creed  of  the  frontier.    They  distributed  their  force 
among  the  several  voting  districts  so  as  to  make  sure 
of  swamping  the  antislavery  majority  at  ever>'  point. 
At  the  election  of  the  territorial  delegate  (Novem- 
ber 29,  1854),  Whitfield,  the  proslavery  candidate, 
received  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  votes 
cast,  but  more  than  half  the  number  (1721)  were 
afterward  proven  to  be  illegal.     4  much  more  im- 
portant issue  was  the  choice  of  the  territorial  legis- 
lature in  the  spring  of  1855,  for  on  its  enactments 
would  depend  the  future  of  Kansas.    Again  armed 
bands  rode  across  the  border,  each  equipped  with 
camping  outfit,  and  when  they  returned  home  imme- 
diately after  the  election,  they  were  received  with 
addresses  of  congratulation  by  their  fellow-townsmen 
at  Franklin  and  elsewhere,  for  they  had  insured  a 
proslavery  majority.*" 

When  Governor  Reeder.who  had  at  fir?  t  accepted  the 
result  of  the  election,  found  this  assembly  unmanage- 
able and  repudiated  its  action,  he  was  removed  from 
oflfiee  by  President  Pierce,  and  Governor  Shannon  was 
sent  to  take  his  pla^e.    So  supported,  the  legislature 


mi 


SKa-; 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 


347 


proceeded  to  draw  up  a  constitution  for  the  Territory 
closely  modelled  upon  that  of  Missouri,  but  even  more 
drastic  in  respect  to  the  opponents  of  slavery.  The 
death  penalty  was  awarded  for  the  crime  of  aiding 
in  the  escape  of  a  runaway  slave,  imprisonment  at 
hard  labor  for  writing,  speaking,  or  printing  anti- 
slavery  arguments,  and  antislavery  opinions  were 
declared  to  be  sufficient  ground  for  disfranchisement. 
The  effect  of  these  high-handed  proceedings  was  to 
rouse  intense  enthusiasm  for  the  crusade  in  behalf  of 
freedom  throughout  the  North  f*nd  to  induce  the 
immigration  of  some  fanatic  abolitionists.  The 
proslavery  zealots,  ineanwhilo.  policed  the  Missouri, 
inspecting  the  steamboats,  turninj'  back  passengers 
who  haled  from  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  con- 
fiscating their  luggage. 

The  Wakaruca  War 

The  free  state  settlers  justly  regiarded  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  adopted  by  an  assembly  illegally 
elected  as  void  and  without  effect,  and  they  pro- 
ceeded to  hold  a  convention  at  Topeka  to  draw  up  a 
state  constitution.  This  was  submitted  to  the  people 
(December  15,  1855)  and  carried  1731  to  46.  Dr. 
Robinson,  who  headed  the  antislavery  ticket,  was 
triumphantly  elected  governor.  Thus  there  were 
two  governments  in  Kansas,  the  territorial  and  the 
state,  neither  of  which  could  claim  to  be  constitu- 
tional. The  conflict  of  authority,  or  rather  the  lack  of 
all  authority,  gave  opportunity  for  theft,  murder,  and 
arson,  and  the  inevitable  recriminations.  A  belliger- 
ent proslavery  sheriff,  Jones,  attempted  to  arrest  an 


\ 


1  ' 


"i' 

! 


il:' 


1 


\li 


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I  < 


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i       I 


saRs&Shi^ii 


,!_,:5^'ki* 


ill. 


n  V 


348  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

old  man  whose  only  offence  was  his  concern  for  the 
body  of  a  murdered  friend;  but  he  was  rescued  by 
some  of  the  free  state  men,  who  protested  the  sheriff's 
authority.  The  Missourians  reenforced  Jones'  posse 
by  seventeen  hundred  armed  troopers  and  marched 
on  Lawrence  determined  to  make  an  end  of  the  hated 
town.  HostiUties  were  averted  by  the  personal 
intervention  of  Governor  Shannon,  who  patched  up 
a  truce  and  reluctantly  conceded  the  right  of  the 
men  of  Lawrence  to  defend  themselves ;  but  Robinson 
and  several  other  antislavery  leaders  were  arrested 
and  kept  under  guard  by  the  Federal  troops. 

In  the  spring  of  1856  a  Congressional  investigation 
was  ordered.  The  majority  report  (two  Republicans 
to  one  Democrat)  was  to  the  effect  that  the  territorial 
legislature  was  illegally  elected,  and  its  acts  wcmc 
therefore  void  ;  that  the  convention  which  drew  up  the 
Topeka  constitution  represented  a  majority  of  the 
people,  but  was  illegally  called."  A  new  election  v  - 
ordered  for  the  autumn  of  1857,  and  United  States 
troops  undertook  to  maintain  peace  until  the  ci^il 
authority  was  established. 

All  might  have  gone  well  but  for  the  Pottawatomie 
outrages.  John  Brown  and  his  five  sons  came  to 
Kansas  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1855  and  sotthnl 
at  Osawatomie.  They  were  extreme  abolitionists 
and  held  that  slaveholders  must  be  driven  from  the 
territory,  if  not  by  votes,  then  by  force ;  but  their 
propaganda  was  distrusted  by  Robinson  and  tlie 
Lawrence  men,  who  believed  that  extra-legal  means 
would  be  fatal  to  their  cause.  Aroused  to  a  pilcli  of 
frenzy  by  the  appearance  of  armed  bands  of  Missouri- 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 


349 


ans  and  the  attack  upon  Lawrence,  Brown  led  his  men 
into  the  valley  of  the  Pottawatomie,  a  proslavery 
district,  and  there  they  dragged  five  suspects  from 
their  beds  and  killed  them  without  shadow  of  trial  or 
legal  authority.  This  horror  precipitated  a  cam- 
paign of  revenge  in  which  both  parties  participated, 
and  the  governor  was  obliged  to  resort  to  martial 
law.  Immigration  was  checked,  and  the  favorable 
impression  created  by  Robinson's  policy  of  non-re- 
sistance was  largely  negatived.  Thomas  Wentworth 
Higginson,  a  young  divine  of  Worcester,  Massachu- 
setts, who  was  escorting  a  party  of  emigrants  over  the 
toilsome  and  costly  route  through  Iowa  and  Ne- 
braska, met  parties  of  Kansas  settlers  returning 
home.  '"Will  you  give  up  Kansas?'  I  asked. 
'Never,'  was  the  reply  from  the  bronzed  and  bearded 
lips,  stern  and  terrible  as  the  weapons  that  hung  to  the 
saddle-bow.  '  We  are  scattered,  starved,  hunted,  half- 
naked,  but  we  are  not  conquered  yet. ' "  '^  Douglas, 
on  the  other  hand,  denounced  "that  vast  moneyed 
corporation,"  the  Emigrant  Aid  Company,  as  prima- 
rily responsible  for  the  failure  of  popular  sovereignty 
to  settle  the  slavery  question  in  the  territories; 
but  wiser  men  than  he  were  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  peaceful  solution  of  an  antagonism  so  irrec- 
oncilable was  impossible. 

In  1857  immigration  again  set  toward  Kansas,  the 
Northern  men  usually  coming  by  the  way  of  Iowa  and 
Nebraska  to  avoid  the  annoyance  of  passing  through 
St.  Louis,  Franklin,  and  Kansas  City.  Some  enter- 
prising a  ntislavery  men  started  the  tnwn  of  Quindaro 
and  announced  it  a.?  the  only  landing  on  the  river 


!;l!i 


lii 


i     I 


i        t 


l>: 


350  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

where  free  state  immigrants  were  sure  of  a  welcome. 
In  consequence,  all  the  immigration  set  that  way,  and 
the  other  landings  had  to  advertise  equal  hospitality 
or  see  their  trade  languish.     When  the  elections 
were  held  in  October,  1857,  the  free  state  party  was 
confessedly  in  the  majority,   twenty  to  one;    out 
the  determined    advocates  of  slavery  falsified  the 
returns.    The  proslavery  vc.     from  small  villages 
and    sparsely    populated    townships  was    so  large 
that  the  fraud  was  patent,  and  the  returns  were 
disallowed  by  Governor  Walker,  to  Pierce's  extreme 
annoyance.    But  fraud  could  not  make  permanent 
headway  against  the  will  of  the  people,  and  violence 
had  only  the  effect  of  sending  larger  compames  of  anti- 
slavery  colonists  across  the  Missouri.     Kansas  was 
ultimately    onfor  free  labor,  as  Oregon  and  Cahfomia 
had  been,  by  the  incoming  of  settlers  who  had  no  use 
for  slavery.    In  1859  an  antislavery  constitution  was 
adopted  by  an  uncontestable  iiiajority  of  the  voters, 
and  the  attempt  to  create  a  slave  state  north  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  was  abandoned. 

Beaten  on  ground  of  its  own  choosing,  the  slave 
oligarchy  repudiated  the  theory  of  popular  sover- 
eignty altogether  and  endeavored  to  substitute  the 
principle  that  slave  property  had  equal  nghts  with 
any  other  property,  and  that  the  Federal  government 
was  bound  to  defend  its  possessor  in  any  state  or 
territory  to  which  he  might  transfer  it.     Meantime 
the  men  who  were  convinced  that  farther  compromises 
with  the  slave  power  would  jeopardize  the  continu- 
ance of  free  institutions  had  organized  the  Republican 
party.    The  convention  held  in  the  summer  of  18ob 


SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES 


351 


announced  that  no  interference  with  the  institutions 
of  existing  states  was  proposed,  but  that  the  extension 
of  slavery  to  the  territories  must  cease  at  once  and 
for  all  time. 

In  the  presidential  election  of  November,  1856,  the 
Republicans  cast  1,341,264  votes  and  carried  eleven 
of  the  fifteen  free  states ;  but  Buchanan,  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate,  secured  the  majority  of  the  elec- 
toral college.  However,  the  tide  of  popular  indig- 
nation against  the  aggressions  of  slave  owners  was 
steadily  rising.  The  Dred  Scott  decision  and  the 
open  importation  of  slaves  from  Africa,  in  violation 
of  a  pact  in  the  original  constitution,  added  fuel  to 
the  flame.  In  the  elections  of  1860,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, the  consistent  opponent  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
received  a  popular  vote  of  1,866,452,  and  a  clear 
majority  of  the  electoral  college.  His  election  was 
the  signal  for  the  secession  of  the  slave  states  and  the 
war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  The  pro- 
slavery  majority  in  the  S:riite  disappeared  with  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Southern  members,  and  Kansas  was 
finally  admitted  to  the  Union  under  the  constitution 
indorsed  by  its  people. 

The  rapid  development  of  the  state  under  a  free 
labor  system  was  a  sufficient  justification  of  the  long 
struggle.  Samuel  Bowles,  who  crossed  the  Plains 
by  stage  in  1865,  described  the  country  east  of  Fort 
Kearney  as  beautiful  prairie,  "illimitable  stretches  of 
exquisite  green  surface,  rolUng  like  long  waves  of  the 
sea,"  with  here  and  there  a  ranch  or  a  farm  with 
cultivated  land.  The  proprietors  were  using  (  wers 
and  reapers  "to  an  extent  that  would  amaze  New 


{■■■■} 


\ 


!  a 


t,     < 


'i,    =  < 

!  1      ■■ 


I? 


352 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 


England  farmers."  "  The  great  need  of  Western  agri- 
culture was  a  steam  plough  which  would  convert  the 
level,  treeless  plains  iuto  tillable  soil  with  less  expendi- 
ture of  time  and  labor.  Farther  west  the  ranchmen 
were  discussing  the  practicability  of  dry  farming. 
"By  ploughing  during  the  latter  rains  of  Spring,  and 
sowing  during  the  long,  dry  Summer  rest,  the  smaller 
and  hardy  grains  will  sprout  with  the  Fall  rain-, 
strengthen  with  the  Winter  and  quickly  ripen  in  tlio 
early  Spring.  Such  tr.-atment  involves  a  years  fal- 
low, as  the  harvest  vvould  be  too  late  for  another 
ploughing  the  same  l^'pring."  ^* 


ii  - 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    Vi-  TORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


I       } 


I  I 


Th'-  b'^ttlo'Dont  of  tiic  slavery  question  aside,  the 
most  significant  results  of  vhe  Civil  War  for  the  Far 
West  were  the  chartering  of  the  Uinon  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  and  the  Homestead  Act. 

The  Railroad  to  the  Pacific 

The  first  suggestion  for  transcontinental  transpor- 
tation seems  to  have  been  that  submitted  t(j  Congress 
by  Rf '"ert  Mills  in  1819.  He  proposed  that  Charles- 
tun,  South  Carolina,  be  connected  with  the  Pacific 
Ocean  by  a  system  of  canals  and  natural  waterways, 
up  theMississippi  andMissouri  to  the  Great  Falls,  antl 
"thence  passing  through  the  plains  and  aoross  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  navigable  waters  of  the 
Kooskooskee  River,  a  branch  of  the  Columbia,  three 
hundred  anu  forty  miles."  The  proposed  nuitc  is 
evidently  based  on  the  Summary  Statement  of  Dis- 
lancrs  compiled  by  Lewis  and  Clark.*  A  railway 
across  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  one  of  Hall  J. 
Kolley's  dreams,  and  to  him  it  seemed  an  entin^ly 
sim[)le  proposition  ;  but  his  contemporari«'s  tiiought 
it  !is  visionary  as  a  railway  to  the  moon.  The  {)ro- 
jfH't  was  finally  reduced  to  practicable  terms  by  .\sa 
Whitney,  a  New  York  merchant,  who  addressed  a 
memorial  to  Congress  in  1845,  embodying  his  plan, 
lie  proposed  to  finance  the  railroad  out  of  Uuul  sales 
VOL.  II  — 2  a  353 


t  • 

i      I 


I 
i  t 


it'  N 


Iff  11 
I    1 


I 


:| 


J.- 

^1 


354  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

and  petitioned  for  a  grant  sixty  miles  wide  along  the 
entire  route.    The  settlers  who  came  in  to  purchase 
the  land  would  furnish  the  business  on  which  the 
company  might  depend  for  future  revenues.    "It  is 
proposed  to  establish  an  entirely  new  system  of  settle- 
ment, on  which  the  hopes  of  success  are  based,  and 
upon' which  all  depend.    The  settler  on  the  line  of 
the  road  would,  so  soon  as  his  house  or  cabin  were  up 
and  a  crop  in,  find  employment  to  grade  the  road ; 
the  next  season,  when  his  crop  would  have  ripened, 
there  would  be  a  market  for  it  at  his  door,  by  those  hi 
the  same  situation  as  himself  the  season  before  ;  if  any 
surplus,  he  would  have  thv,  road  at  low  tolls  to  take  it 
to  market ;   and  if  he  had  in  the  first  instance  paid 
for  his  land,  the  money  would  go  back,  either  ''irectly 
or  indirectly,  for  labor  and  materials  for  the  work. 
So  that  ui  one  year  the  settler  would  have  his  home, 
with    .■>ettlement    and    civilization    surrounding,    a 
demand  for  his  labor,  a  market  at  his  tioor  for  his 
produce,  a  railroad  to  communicate  with  civiliza- 
tion and  markets,  without  having  cost  one  dollar. 
And  the  settler  who  might  not  have  means  in  money 
to  purchase  the  land,  his  labor  on  the  road  and  a 
first  crop  would  give  him  that  means,  and  he,  too, 
would  in  one  year  have  his  home  with  the  same  ad- 
vantages and  as  et^ually  independent."^ 

By  widely  distributed  lyceum  lectures  and  unceas- 
ing newspaper  agitation.  Whitney  created  a  general 
demand  for  transportation  to  the  Pacific,  for  lie 
diplomatically  varied  the  route  according  to  the  pn- 
pncapssions  of  the  audience  he  was  addressing.  His 
first  project  was  a  railroad  from  Milwaukee  on  Lake 


THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


355 


Michigan  through  Prairie  du  Chien  to  Portland, 
Oregon ;  but  in  deference  to  Southern  interests,  he 
later  proposed  that  the  line  should  run  from  Memphis 
on  the  Mississippi  through  New  Mexico  to  San  Fran- 
cisco. Sectional  feeling  was  quite  evident  in  the 
Congressional  debates.  Southern  representatives 
demanded  that  the  road  should  connect  Charleston 
with  San  Diego,  while  members  from  the  Northern 
states  held  that  this  national  boon  should  not  fail  to 
advantage  Chicago  and  St.  Louis. 

Meantime  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  had 
rendered  some  form  of  transportation  a  necessity. 
The  prairie  schooners  of  the  emigrants  soon  deter- 
mined the  shortest  route  to  California,  and  a  well- 
defined  trail  from  Westport  Landing  to  Salt  Lake  via 
South  Pass,  and  thence  by  the  Humboldt  and  Truckee 
rivers  to  the  Sacramento  Valley,  indicated  the  line 
of  least  resistance.     The  overland  road  v.  ■    lescribed 
in  1860  as  "a  great  thoroughfare,  broad  and  well- 
worn  as  a  European  turnpike  or  a  Roman  military 
route,  and   undoubtedly  the  best  anJ   the   longest 
natural  highway  in  the  world."  ^     Mail-coaches  had 
been  running  from  St.  Joseph  to  Salt  Lake  since  1850, 
with  the  aid  of  a  mail  subsidy  from  the  government. 
In  1850  the  stage  line  was  in  the  hands  of  Russell, 
Majors,  and  Waddell,  ex-army  contractors,  who  en- 
joyed an  annual   sulisidy  of  *1 90,000.     The  heavy 
Concord  coaches  ran  night  and  day,  six  miles  an  hour, 
stopping  only  to  change  the  mule  teams  at  Fort 
Kearney,  Fort  Laramie,  Fort  Bridger,  and  for  food 
and  drink  at  certain  "stations"  between  these  points. 
The  Wells  Fargo  Express  Company  financed  the  route 


«       s 


AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

from  Salt  Lake  to  San  Frcncis(  The  usual  sched- 
ule time  between  St.  Joseph  ana  San  Francisco  was 
three  weeks,  though  it  often  exceeded  this  by  two  or 
three  days.  The  charge  for  fare  and  twenty-five 
pounds  of  luggage  was  S175  to  Salt  Lake,  —  thence 
to  San  Francisco,  $150.  A  more  rapid  mail  service 
was  furnished  by  the  famous  Pony  Express,  a  relaj- 
system  of  mounted  mail-carriers,  who  made  the  trip 
from  St.  Joseph  on  the  Missouri  to  Placerville,  Cali- 
fornia, in  eight  days.  This  was  a  desperate  business 
for  man  and  horse,  but  with  a  letter  rate  of  $5  per 
sheet,  it  paid  expenses  and  was  maintained  from  1852 
to  18G(). 

When  gold  was  discovered  in  the  northern  Rockies, 
Ben  Holladay,  a  Missourian,  opened  a  stage  route 
from  Atchison  to  Denver,  across  the  Wasatch  Range 
to  Salt  Lake,  and  thence  north  to  Idaho  and  Oregon,  a 
line  that  footed  up  2240  miles.  At  Portland,  Holhi- 
day's  stages  were  met  by  steamships  which  he  had 
purchased  to  carry  mail  and  passengers  from  British 
Columbia  to  Mexico.  It  was  a  vast  scheme  of  trans- 
portation without  which  the  mines  of  the  Northwr>t 
could  hardly  have  been  operated,  and  the  revenue  as 
well  as  tlie  expenditures  ran  up  to  figures  regarded 
as  stupendous  in  those  days.  The  mail  contracts 
alone  amounted  to  S()50,000  per  annum.  The  south- 
ern overland  route  from  Fort  Smith,  the  head  of  navi- 
gation on  the  Arkansas,  ina  El  Paso  to  San  Diego,  wus 
well  patronized  by  emigrants  from  the  Gulf  States. 
and  this,  t(  o,  had  its  stage  line  (1858)  financed  by 
Wells  of  the  Wells  Fargo  Company. 

It  was  a  hazardous  business   for  all  concer'  d. 


THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


357 


I  I 


The  Ti<k  of  capture  by  Indian  bands  or  by  more  civil- 
ized highwaymen  was  serious,  and  the  losses  in 
property  alone  were  reckoned  by  millions.  The  cost 
of  maintaining  the  draft  animals  at  the  numerous 
relay  posts  was  heav^y,  for  grain  had  to  be  hauled 
from  Missouri  or  from  Salt  Lake,  and  hay  and  fuel 
were  often  packed  a  hundred  i  iles  over  the  desert. 
Reckoning  also  the  wages  paid  to  the  men  and  boys 
employed,  to  say  nothing  of  the  salaried  officials, 
the  output  mounted  to  .$10,000  and  .$20,000  a  month, 
and  frequently  exceeded  the  revenue.  Firm  after 
firm  failed,  giving  way  to  some  larger  combination. 
The  Russell,  Majors,  and  Waddell  line  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Ben  Holladay  (18()2).  The  Wells  Fargo 
management  bought  out  Holladay  (1805)  and  estab- 
lished a  gigantic  transportation  system  reaching  from 
the  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  and  from  Sante  Fe  to  the 
Columbia,  —  the  Overland  Mail  Company.  Samuel 
Bowles,  who  made  his  journey  "Across  the  Conti- 
nent "  in  1865,  estimated  that  the  various  stage  lines 
employed  from  nine  to  ten  thousand  wagons,  six- 
teen thousand  horses  and  mules,  ten  thousand  men, 
and  fifty  thousand  cattle. 

The  overland  stage  was  a  boon  to  the  gold-seekers 
and  to  the  travelling  public  for  a  score  of  years,  and 
it  offered  opportunity  for  many  a  thrifty  Mornum  or 
stranded  fur  trader  to  accumulate  a  tidy  fortune  by 
furnishing  poor  food  and  worse  wliiskoy  to  the  way- 
farer ;  but  it  was  destined  to  give  place  to  the  trans- 
fontinetital  railroad.  During  the  decade  1S4'.)  to 
1S.")9,  surveys  were  made  of  the  various  routes  estab- 
lished by  fur  traders  and  emigrants,  without  reach- 


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bJcIIwIImi 

358  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

ing  any  final  conclusion.    Simpson,  of  the  Unittnl 
States  Topographical  Survey,  who  had  explored  the 
Zuiii  route  from  Fort  Smith  to  the  Rio  Grande,  the 
Sante  F6  route  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  and  the  Salt 
Lake  route  along  the  North  Platte,  thought  the  south- 
ern project  the  most  practicable.     Texas  and  New 
Mexico  offered  no  serious  obstacles  to  construction, 
for  the  grades  were  Ught,  and  there  was  little  snow 
even  in  winter.    But  other  considerations  than  the 
difficulties  of  construction  must  have  weight  in  the 
ultimate  decision;   the  openings  for  settlement  and 
cultivation  must  be  taken  into  account,  if  the  road 
was  ever  to  be  profitable.   In  these  respects  the  south- 
ern route  offered  less  than  the  line  recently  explored 
by  McClellan  and  by  Lieutenant  Mullan  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  Puget  Sound.     Here,  too,  the  Mis- 
souri would  serve  for  the  transportation  of  materials 
and  supplies,  while  the  Cascade  Range  could  furnish 
abundant  timber.      The  central    route   so  eagerly 
urged  by  Benton  and  Fremont  was   thought  im- 
practicable by  Simpson,  Gunnison,  and  Beckwith. 
The  grades  they  believed  beyond  the  skill  of  railroad 
engineers,   and  the  snows   fell  so  heavily   in   tlu^ 
Wasatch  Range  and  the  Sierras  as  to  preclude  winter 
travel.    Simpson,  indeed,  thought  a  railroad  through 
the  CordiUeran  area  impracticable.    Two  thousand 
miles  of  track  built  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  nulos 
a  year  would  require  .wenty  years  for  complotu.n. 
Meantime,  the  portion  first  built  would  have  rotted  out 
twice  over.     He  advocated  a  Central  American  canal 
as  the  ''great  political,  commercial,  financial,  physw.-o- 
Bcientific,  moral  and  rehgious  problem  of  the  age." « 


THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


359 


The  central  route  had  been  explored  by  Fremont 
in  1843-1844  and  again  in  1845-184G,  by  Stansbury 
in  1849,  by  Gunnison  in  1853,  by  Beckwith  in  1854, 
and  by  Simpson  in  1859.  and  although  they  differed 
on  many  points,  all  agreed  that  the  South  Pass  was 
the  most  feasible  means  of  surmoimting  the  Rockies. 
Fremont  described  the  South  Pass  as  a  "sandy  plain, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long"  which  "conducts 
by  a  gradual  and  regular  ascent,  to  the  summi    about 
seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,"   so  that  the 
traveller,  "without  being  reminded  of  any  change  by 
toilsome  ascents,  suddenly  finds  himself  on  the  waters 
which  flow  to  the  Pacific  Ocean."  ^    The  crossing 
of  the  Wasatch  Range  and  the  Sierras,  he  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  really  serious  problem. 

While  engineers  were  discussing  grades  and  con- 
struction materials,  and  politicians  were  endeavoring 
to  reconcile  sectional  interests,  the  miners  and  ranch- 
men from  Kansas  to  California  were  clamoring  for 
improved  means  of  transportation.     A  Pacific  rail- 
road, as  Bowles  put  it,  was  "the  hunger,  the  prayer, 
the  hope"  of  all  the  settlers  west  of  the  Missouri. 
Both  the  Democratic  a..d  the  Republican  platforms 
of  1860  declared  that  a  transcontinental  railway  was 
"imperatively   demanded   by   the   interests  of  the 
wliole  country,"  but  not  till  the  secession  of  the  slave 
states  left  the  representatives  of  the  North  in  control 
of  Congress,  was  the  central  route  determined  on, 
with  Omaha  as  the  point  of  departure.     The  Con- 
gressional sanction  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm  all 
alnns   the   emigrant    trail.     Tiie   mprchants   of   St. 
Louis  and  the  farmers  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were 


i  I 


1 1 


:i&!fe==s 


IJ'  I 


360  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

the  first  to  feel  the  advantages  of  the  new  transporta- 
tion system ;  but  the  Mormons  in  Utah  were  no  less 
convinced  of  its  beneficence.     Brigham  Yorng  took 
out  contracts  in  behalf  of  the  church  for  ouilcixng 
the  line  through  Mormon  country,  and  many  a  for- 
tune was  made  in  the  furnishing  of  timber  and  sup- 
plies, while  the  Saints  contributed  no  small  quota  of 
the  labor  employed.     The  business  men  of  San  Fran- 
cisco subscribed  §1,000,000  of  stock  and  immediately 
set  about  building  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  over 
the  Sierras  and  across  the  Great  American  Desert 
to  the  Great  Salt  Lake, -quite  the  most  difficult 
portion  of  the  route.     The  city  of  the  Golden  Gate 
subscribed  8400,000  of  stock,  Sacramento  $300,000, 
and  Placer  County  .S2o0,000,  while  the  state  of  Califor- 
nia put  in  §5,500,000  of  seven  per  cent  bonds.     Labor 
was  provided  by  the  importation  of  Chinamen  under 
wage  contracts  at  much  lower  rates  than  would  have 
brought  in  white  workmen. 

The  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific  railways 
met  at  Ogden  on  May  10,  1869,  and  the  Unk  between 
the  two  oceans  was  complete.     The  great  undertak- 
ing could  not  have  been  achieved  by  private  capital 
alone.     The  construction  costs  exceeded  all  calcula- 
tions, and  the  Federal  government  was  obliged  to 
come  to  the  aid  of  this  national  enterprise.    The 
second    mortgage   bonds   of   the   Company   to   the 
amount    of    $05,000,000    were    guaranteed    by    the 
United  States,  the  Federal  treasury  being  made  re- 
sponsible for  the  payments  on  interest  and  principal. 
An  even  more  serious  draft  upon  the  country's  futur-^ 
resources  was  conceded  in  the  land  grant.     Alternate 


b^f 


mmm^^mmm^<^M0m&m?^^ 


!■,.?: 


THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


361 


sections  of  public  land,  within  a  tract  twenty  miles  in 
width,  were  assigned  along  th-j  right  of  way  as  con- 
struction proceeded,  a  grant  which  amounted  in  the 
end  to  23,500,000  acres,  an  area  equal  to  that  of 
It' liana.  In  so  doing.  Congress  handed  over  to  this 
vast  transportation  system  effectual  control  of  tlio 
destinies  of  the  region  which  it  served.  The  ultimate 
results  of  this  hostage  to  monopoly  could  not  then  be 

foreseen. 

The  Homestead  Act 

The  pioneers  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were 
entirely  familiar  with  the  "cabin  right."     Mrginia 
and  the  CaroUnas  had  offered  lands  beyond  the  Appa- 
lachians at  a  mere  nominal  charge  to  settlers  who  could 
show  a  house  built  and  corn  planted  at  the  end  of  a 
year  from  the  date  of  occupation.     Senator  Benton, 
the  ardent  champion  of  the  frontier,  was  heartily  in 
favor  of  this  generous  policy.     WTien  he  first  came  to 
Missouri,  and  "saw  land  exposed  to  sale  to  the  high- 
est bidder,  and  lead  mines  and  salt  mines  reserved 
from  sale,  and  rented  out  for  the  profit  of  the  Federal 
trea      y  [he]  felt  repugnance  to  the  whole  system,  and 
determined  to  make  war  upon  it  whenever  [he]  should 
have  the  power."  ^     Unfortunately,  the  eloquent  sen- 
ator from  Missouri  lost  his  seat  just  as  the  question 
of  the  free  distribution  of  the  public  lands  became 
a  live  issue   in   the    Senate.      Daniel  Webster,  the 
Whig  leader,  was  equally  in   favor  of  making  over 
the  public  dom  un  to  the  people.     In  January  22, 
18."j0,  shortly  before  his  final  withdrawal  from  the 
Senate,  he  introduced  a  re^nlutinn  in  behalf  of  tlie 
quarter-section  grant. 


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1 1 


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it 


362  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

It  was  in  the  House,  however,  where  the  Northern 
and  Western  states  had  a  working  majority,  that  the 
free  soil  agitation  was  fully  felt.     Andrew  Johnson  of 
Tennessee  introduced  a  homestead  bill  in  1845.     Its 
objects  were  defined  by  Horace  Greeley  in  the  New 
York  Tnbune  as  "the  securing  to  every  man,  as 
nearly  as  may  be,  a  chance  to  work  for  and  earn  a 
living ;  secondly,  the  discouragement  of  land  monop- 
oly and  speculation,  and  the  creation  of  a  universally 
landholding  People."     In   1850  a  second  bill  was 
brought  before  the  House,  this  time  with  the  mdorse- 
ment  of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture.    It  was  elo- 
quently defended  by  Brown  of  Mississippi,  a  Demo- 
crat, -vho  urged  that  "a  fixed  and  permanent  home 
should  be  placed  within  the  reach  of  every  citizen, 
however  humble  his  condition  in  life."  '     There  was 
much  talk  of  the  patriotism  of  the  simple,  sturdy  old 
farmers,  and  the  interests  of  "the  honest,  hard-fisted, 
warm-hearted,  toiling  miUions,"  neglected  in  the  zeal 
of  some  legislators  to  please  the  rich  and  great.  Other 
Democrats  and  Southerners  followed  in  the  same  vein. 
The  public  domain,  purchased  by  the  blood  and 
treasure  of  the  whole  people,  belonged  to  the  people 
by  right  and  should  be  placed  at  the  disposition  of 
any  man  who  would  settle  thereon,  without  charge. 
The  national  inheritance  must  be  rescued  "from  the 
grasp  of  jobbers  and  pirates"  who  were  speculating 
on  the  necessities  of  the  poor. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  proposal  was  denounced  as 
demagogism  by  Morse  of  Louisiana,  as  "one  of  the 
grossest  schemes  for  corrupting  the  people  that  hau 
ever  been  devised."    The  public  property  was  being 


M^*^  ^^  .^^^'W^^?!Pg"wWM  '^?W*^--'w=^ 


THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


363 


given  away  "for  the  purpose  of  making  voters."* 
Hubbard  of  Alabama  argued  that  the  minimum  rpte 
of  $1.25  per  acre  already  guaranteed  to  actual  settlers 
by  the  Preemption  Act  was  not  excessive,  and  that  a 
more  reasonable  reform  would  be  the  classification 
of  the  agricultural  land  still  available  and  the  gradua- 
tion of  the  price  according  to  real  productivity.     The 
flat  charge  of  $1.25  per  acre  for  the  whole  area, 
whether  the  "richest  bottom  lands  or  the  poorest 
wire-grass   pine   barrens,"    was  the  real   injustice. 
The  protest  of  Eastern  representatives  that  land  sales 
constituted  the  principal  source  of  revenue  for  the 
Federal  government  was  answered  by  the  assertion 
that  the  revenue  was  unnecessary   and  that  the 
burden  was  unequally  distributed.    Johnson  of  Ar- 
kansas insisted  that  "the  people  of  the  new  states 
have  contributed  more,  in  proportion  to  their  popu- 
lation, to  the  support  of  this  Government  than  any 
otherpeoplein the  United  States.  *  *  *    When  a  man 
comes  to  settle  among  us,  he  is  compelled  to  pay  his 
money  into  the  Treasury  in  order  to  get  a  spot  on 
which  to  live;   and  the  money  which  is  thus  paid 
by  the  settlers  is  carried  out  of  the  state  and  expended 

elsewhere."  ^ 

Until  1854  the  homestead  policy  was  not  regarded 
as  a  party  issue.  It  was  indorsed  by  Whigs  such  as 
Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan  and  by  Democrats  such  as 
McMullen  of  Virginia.  Nor  could  it  be  called  a  sec- 
tional question,  though  it  awakened  the  liveliest  inter- 
est in  the  West  and  among  the  men  who  were  looking 
forward  to  settlement  of  the  public  lands.  But  as  it 
became  apparent  that  the  most  desirable  portions  of 


i  I 


11 


W's^m'^^M  'B#^-«^^ w^^'^^ 


CTSi 


364  AMERICAN  SETTLERS 

the  unclaimed  lands  lay  north  of  the  MissouriTom- 
promise  line,   sectional  jealousies  were  awakened. 
When  the  Homestead  Bill  reached  the  Senate  in 
March  of  1854,  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Public  Lands,  and  even  when  reported  back  with 
the  recommendation  to  pass,  action  was  deferred 
from  week  to  week,  until  Gwin  of  California  charged 
the   opposition   with   using   adroit   and   underhand 
tactics  to  defeat  a  measure  which  they  dared  not 
fight  in  the  open.     Then  Johnson  of  Arkansas,  now 
sitting  in  the  Senate,  spoke  his  mind.    He  had  be- 
come convinced  that  the  policy  was  "tinctured  so 
strongly  with  abolitionism"  that  no  Southerner  could 
vote  for  it.     To  pass  a  homestead  act  before  tlio 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  had  become  law  would  bo  io 
offer  a  premium  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world  to  settle 
that  country  'excepting  only  slave  owners.    Tlio  bill 
finally  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  tlurty-six  to 
eleven,  but  with  amendments  so  obnoxious  to  ihv 
temper  of  the  House  that  that  body  refused  to  con- 
cur.    Once  again,  in  June  of  1860,  the  two  hou>.~ 
agreed  upon  a  homestead  bill  providing  that  an> 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  foreigner  intondiu^ 
to  become  such,  might  take  up  a  quart e-  <ection  of  u 
appropriated  public  land,  settle  thereon,  and  wlim  - 
could  prove  residence  of  five  years'  durution,  acqu 
absolute  title.     The  Senate's  contention  ti.at  a    ::- 
payment  of  twenty-five  cents  an  acre  be  --'nwreu  ^-ir 
accepted  by  the  House  after  seriou^    n-ot^t      ^ 
even  so,  the  opposition  of  the  slave  int. -e^- ^va_-^-• 
strong  that  President  Buchanan  felt  jur-seiin  -- - 
ing  the  bill. 


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THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 


3G5 


The  Republican  party  vva^  fully  committed  to  tlie 
principle  of  free  land  and  free  labor,  and  its  victory 
in  the  presidential  election  of  1860  indicated  that  the 
majority  of  the  people  had  adopted  these  foundation 
principles  of  hberty.     When  the  slave  states  had 
withdrawn  their  representatives  from  the  Federal 
legislature,  the  Homestead  Bill  passed  both  houses 
without  opposition  and,  receiving  the  signature  of 
President  Lincoln,  became  law,  May  20,  1S()2.     No 
acreage  charge  was  made,  and  any  foreigner  might 
file  upon  public  land  after  declaring  his  intention  of 
becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.     Homestead 
entries  proved  immensely  popular,  attracting  settlers 
not  only  from  the  states  east  of  the  ^Ii>-issippi  River, 
but  from  European  lands.     Quarter-section  farms  to 
the  amount  of  27,000,000  acres  were  cUiimed  between 
1867  and  1874,  and  168,000  farmers'  families,  Ameri- 
can, German,  and  Scandinavian,  settled  in  the  Far 
West.     The  revenue  from  sales  dwindled,  but  the 
government  soon  realized  an  offsetting  advantage  in 
the  enhancement  of  the  general  wealth  and  in  the 
higher  standard  of  citizenship.     The  long  struggle 
between  forced  and  free  labor,  between  land  monopoly 
an(i  the  self-employed  landowner,  had  ended  in  the 

riumph  of  the  ideal  American  type  — the  homestead 
firmer. 


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VOLUME  II 
Paht  III 
Chapter  I 

'  Account  of  Louisiana,  15. 

»  The  cultivation  of  suRar  had  boon  abandonod  as  unprofitable  shortly 
after  the  Spanish  oecupation,  but  it  was  revived  in  1796  by  Ktienne  Bor6, 
a  planter  of  New  Orleans,  who  succeeded  in  getting  from  his  boilers  a 
well-granulated  grade. 

»  Account  of  Louisiana,  8. 

•  Account  of  Louisiana,  9. 

» The  French  word  prairie  is  defined  as  "land  without  forest  growth." 

•  In  ISIO  Opelousa  sent  12,0(K)  head  oi  attle  to  New  Orleans,  where 
they  sold  (or  $-ir}  a  head. 

'  Sibley,  Letter,  H,  0  7. 

•Sibley  set  out  in  March,  IHOil,  and  sent  in  his  report  April  5,  ISOO. 
It  is  accompanied  by  Dunl)ar's  report  ol  the  Washita  expedition  which 
was  carried  through  iu  the  autumn  of  1H04.  Am.  State  Papert.,  Indian 
Affairs,  I,  721-743. 

•  Sibley,  Letter  of  August  15,  1.S03. 

'»  An  Account  of  the  Red  River  in  Louiniana,  drawn  from  the  report  of 
M.ssrs.  Freeman  and  Custis  to  the  War  OfTue,  exists  in  painiihlet  form 
ill  the  Bancroft  Collection.  Dr.  James  in  Lono'n  ExiK<lilioit.  IV,  tit)  7(1, 
(lives  an  account  of  this  adventure,  evidently  based  on  Freinian's  report. 
The  lull  report  ol  this  expedition  seems  never  to  have  been  printed. 

"  \n  exhaustive  cc  *tm  taken  in  IWHi  for  the  Territory  of  Orl.iiiis 
ntMriici  a  total  population  of  .W.ims  ;  •_'l'),l)t)!l  whites.  Xi.'uA  shiw^  m:i.1 
;«,').')  free  blacks.  Of  the  white  iMiiiulation,  l.i.rAH)  were  cre.iles,  —  '•"reiich 
for  the  most  part,  and  but  .t.'.IMl  Aiiiericaus.  The  renuuiider  were  Sp;iii- 
iiirds,  Irish,  English,  and  Ceriiians.  By  theeensii.-  of  IsiO,  the  poimlation 
o(  New  Orleans  was  17,..M-'.  that  of  the  Territory  of  Orleans  70,55ti. 

"  Flint,  Recollectiona  of  tht  Lant  Tin  Ytars,  300. 

"Nuttull,  Journal,  ZVS. 

<•  Flint,  Lout  Ten  Years,  309. 

'»  Nuttail,  Journal,  309. 

"  Flint,  Last  Ten  Ymrs,  326. 

VOL.  n-  2  m  389 


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370 


NOTES 


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>»  Flint,  L<ut  Ten  Yean,  348. 
«•  Olmated,  Cotton  Kingdom,  358. 
H  Flint,  Ltui  Ten  Years,  329. 

CHAPTiB  II 

J  All  travellers  of  this  period  refer  to  the  devastation  wrought  by  the 
earthquake  of  1811.  In  1815  Congress  made  an  appropriat.on  for  the 
sufferers  at  New  Madrid. 

•  Nuttall,  Journal,  78. 

•  Nuttall,  Journal,  77. 

»  Lead  that  sold  for  7  cents  a  pound  at  Herculaneum  brought  IS 
,..ut8  here,  not  more  than  two  hundred  miles  down  the  river.  Salt 
was  $5  per  bushel,  sugar  31  cents  a  pound,  flour  $11  a  barrel,  pork  «0, 
and  beef  $5  per  cwt. 

»  Most  of  these  grants  were  invalidated  by  the  act  of  1847-1848  on 
the  score  of  indefinitenese. 

•  Nuttall,  Journal,  207. 
'  Nuttall,  Journal,  218. 

•  Sch(  olcraft,  Lend  Mines  of  Missouri,  249-251. 

•  Thwaites,  Levns  and  Clark,  I,  24. 

>»  Bradbury.  Travels  into  the  Interior  of  North  America, 
"  Brackenridge,  Journal,  36-37. 
"  Brackenridge,  Journal,  48. 
'»  Long's  Expedition,  I.  146. 
"  Long's  Expedition,  IV,  33. 
"  Schoolcraft,  Lead  Mines,  223. 
'•  Flint,  Last  Ten  Years.  237. 
"'  Flint,  Last  Tn,  Years,  201-202. 
i»  Flint,  Last  Ten  Years.  249. 
'•  Flint.  Letters  from  America,  12".)- 130. 
«>  FluR«,  The  Far  Went,  208,  229 
•"  Flagg.  The  Far  West.  208-210. 

"  There  were  iiixt.-«-n  grist-mills  and  eight   Bawmills  in  Waahington 
County,  in  1819.  — Schoolcraft. 
•»  Flint.  Last  Ten  Years,  232. 
«  ochookraft.  Lead  Mines,  85. 
•■  The  poBBJblo  yield  Schoolcraft  ascertained  to  Imj  82  per  cent. 


NOTES 


371 


«•  Schoolcraft,  Lead  Mines,  138-139. 

"  The  navigation  of  the  St.  Francis  was  interrupted  by  a  raft  at  St. 
Michael,  but  this  removed,  it  would  be  navigable  five  hundred  miles  to 
the  Mississippi  and  might  furnish  a  direct  outlet  from  the  lead  mines. 

»•  Schoolcraft,  Lead  Mines,  41. 

»  Flint  Last  Ten  Years,  105. 

"According  to  Schoolcraft,  "The  boards  and  planks  are  taken  in 
rafts  from  Olean  [on  the  upper  Allcghanyl  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and 
from  thence  carried  in  keel  boats  and  barges  to  St.  Louis,  where  they  arc 
worth  sixty  dollars  per  thousand  feet."  —  Lead  Mines,  226. 

"  Flint,  Last  Ten  Years,  103. 

»  The  down-stream  traffic  was  in  pig  and  bar  lead,  shot  of  all  sizes, 
whiskey,  flour,  wheat,  corn,  hemp,  flax,  tow  cloth,  horses,  beof,  pork,  driod 
venifcon,  deerskins,  furs  and  peltriea,  butter,  pecans.  There  wn.s  a  marked 
increase  in  the  principal  articles  for  the  prosperous  period  following  the 
War. 


I  f 


:  ' ! 


Productions 


1815 


Bacon  and  hams,  cwt.      .     .  7000 

Butter,  lbs 

Cotton,  bales \  60,000 

Corn,  bushels ^  120,000 

Flour,  barrels 75,000 

Molasses,  gallons    .     .     .     .  |  500,000 

Pork,  barrels I  8,000 

Sugar,  hhds 6.000 

Taffia.  gallons 150.000 

Tobacco,  hhds 6,000 

Wheat,  bushels 

Whiskey,  gallons     ....  150,000 


1818 


13,000 

500 

65,000 

130,000 

98,000 

800,000 

0,700 

7,.300 

300,000 

7,300 

230,000 


1817 


18,CX)0 

1,800 

65,000 

140,000 

190,000 

1,000,000 

22,000 

28,000 

400,000 
28,0(X) 
95.000 

250,000 


—  Schoolcraft,  Lead  Minca,  205. 


"  Schoolcraft,  Lead  Mines,  265. 

"  A  "  sawyer  is  a  large  tree  which  has  tumbled  into  the  river  above, 
and  got  fastened  by  its  roots  in  the  liottom,  with  its  top  pointed  down- 
wards, and  just  appearing  alxjve  the  level  of  the  water,  or  it  may  l<  riniiiato 
a  foot  or  two  below,  so  that  its  locality  can  only  be  told  by  an  i-xrH-ricnced 
hi\nd  by  th"  ripple  rrente<i  in  the  water.  This  tree  is  continually  forced 
downward  by  the  current,  which  is  still  not  strong  enough  to  tear  it  out, 
and  suffers  it  occasionally  to  recoil,  so  that  a  regular  rotary  motion  is 
kept  up,  which  is  perfonned  onro  in  t"n  orfifteen  minutes  ;  and  if  a  boat  bo 
P5,p;;_g  grrpj-  i^  a{  {»-,=  Uri;:-  it  has  ;!vcr!  ^  the  pressure  of  tb"  cijrri-nt  and 
Is  recoiling  to  iU  original  position,  the  aestructioa  of  the  boat  is  iuevi- 


hi 

I:  I 


372 


NOTES 


« 


table.  The  power  of  this  engine  of  destruction  is  that  of  elasticity,  which 
is  here  brought  into  operation  by  the  pressure  of  water  against  a  cohimn 
of  live  wood  eighty  or  ninety  feet  in  length,  the  bottom  being  fastened, 
and  the  column  inclined  at  an  angle  of  about  eighty  degrees,  leavmg  the 
top  at  liberty  to  play  like  a  whip-stalk.  When  the  tree  does  not  reach 
,'ithin  two  or  three  feet  of  the  surface  of  the  water,  they  are  called  iil,'e,>- 
ing  sawyers,  and  these  are  the  most  dangerous,  for  they  cannot  be  seen. 
It  was  on  one  of  these  that  the  steamboat  Franklin  struck,  and  sunk,  a 
few  miles  below  St.  Genevieve. 

'• '  Planters  are  trees  in  a  similar  situation,  but  firmly  set,  and  havmg  no 
motion.  Snags  are  small  trees,  or  limbs  of  large  trees,  sticking  up  in  the 
river,  and  may  cither  be  fixed  or  have  motion.'"  — Schoolcraft,  Lead 
Mines,  223-224. 

»  Flagg,  The  Far  West,  I,  113. 

"  Flagg,  The  Far  West,  I,  84. 

"  Flint,  Last  Ten  Years,  105. 

"  Flagg,  Far  West,  I,  145. 

•  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  I,  21. 

"  Benton.  Thirty  Years'  View,  I,  692. 

<'  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  I,  102-103. 

«  Benton.  Thirty  Years'  View,  I,  147-148. 

■J  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  I,  8-9. 

Chapter  III 

>  Fowler,  Journal,  151. 

•  Gregg,  Cnmmerce  of  the  Prairies,  I,  2.36. 

» .1.  J.  Warner,   Reminiscences  of  Early  California,   Ms.  in  Bancroft 
Collection. 

•  Gregg,  Commerce  nf  the  Prairies,  II,  147. 

» Josiah  Gregg  was  engaged  in  the  Santa  F6  trade,  from  1829-1839. 

•  Pattic,  Narrative,  145,  150,  156,  160. 


Chapter  IV 

'  The  boundary  between  Louisiana  and  New  Spain  was  defined  as 
fi)lli)W8:  along  the  Sabine  Riv<T  to  the  thirty-second  parallel,  north  <>ri 
the  nii>ety-f(iurth  meridian  to  Red  Uiver,  along  this  stream,  to  the  inn' 
hiindrodth  nieriiliiin,  from  thi«  point  due  north  to  the  Arkansas  Hivir, 
then  f.)!!r.winK  tho  south  bank  of  the  Arkansas  to  the  forty-second  par;ill<'l, 
and  thence  clirectly  west  to  the  .South  Sea. 

«  Hi  nton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  II,  619. 


..^mmmmm!^^ 


NOTES 


373 


»  The  Mexican  grant  was  set  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square. 
Austin  was  intrusted  with  the  governmt ut  of  his  colony,  and  the  people 
were  to  enjoy  immunity  from  import  duties  for  a  term  of  six  years.  In 
consideration  of  his  services  as  empreasario,  he  was  later  accorded  addi- 
tional grants  north  of  San  Antonio. 

«  These  are  the  more  generous  terms  accorded  in  the  modification  of 
the  general  law  adopted  by  the  state  of  Coahuila  and  Texas  in  1S25. 

'  Rockwell,  Spanish  and  Mexican  Law,  624. 

«  The  decree  of  1829  proposed  compensation  to  slave  owners,  but  the 
Texans  believed,  with  reason,  that  the  money  would  not  be  available  for 
many  years  and  mi^ht  never  be  paid,  and  they  cited  in  justification  of 
their  own  labor  system  that  Mexican  landowners  employed  peons  who, 
under  the  pretext  of  debtor  contracts,  were  virtually  slaves.  The  master 
might  recover  his  peonn  by  force  if  they  attempted  escape  and  beat  them 
if  they  were  unruly,  while  the  wages  paid  (from  one  to  three  reals  a  day) 
gave  them  no  better  subsistence  than  was  generally  provided  for  negro 
slaves.  Some  of  the  American  slave  owners  returned  to  their  homes  in 
Louisiana  and  Arkansas.  Others  evaded  the  law  by  apprenticing  their 
negroes  for  a  term  of  ninety-nine  years. 
'  Parton,  Aaron  Burr,  II,  319. 
•  Kennedy,  Texas,  117-118. 


i   t 


\ 


I    I 


Part  IV 

Chapter  I 

1  Lumber  is  now  selling  at  from  850  to  $90  per  1000  feet,  "and  such  ia 
the  market  that  no  considerable  reductions  of  these  prices  can  ever  bo 
naaouably  expected." 

»"I  have  been  familiar  with  these  mountains,  for  three  years,  and 
h.ivo  crossed  them  often,  and  at  various  points,  between  the  latitude  42 
and  54.  I  have,  therefore,  the  means  to  know  sonn'thing  aliout  them, 
and  a  right  to  oppose  my  knowledge  to  the  suppositions  of  strangers. 
I  suy,  then,  that  nothing  is  more  easily  passed  than  these  mountains. 
WiiKons  and  carriages  may  cros.s  them  in  a  state  of  nature  without  ditti- 
Hilty,  and  with  little  delay  in  the  day's  journey."  Pileher's  Report, 
1S3U. 

»  This  battle,  July  IS,  1H,}2,  is  graphically  described  by  Irving  in  Cap- 
tiiin  Bonneville,  Chap.  VT. 

'Smith,  Hall,  and  Tibbetta  secured  emplojinent  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Cumpany. 

» Wyeth,  Correspondence  and  Journals.  178. 

•  Wveth  baaed  his  claim  to  he  the  originator  of  the  first  American 
settlenient  in  Oregon  on  his  five  years  of  strenuous  end.-avor  and  llie 
$20,000  spent  in  fitting  out  his  two  expeditions  by  land  and  by  sea  ;    also 


374 


NOTES 


M- 


I  ■< 


'  1,-.]   "iW  ' 


\n< 


m 


1-^ 


I; 


on  the  fact  that  three  of  the  first  party  and  nineteen  of  the  second  re- 
mained in  the  territory  and  took  up  land.  "  When  I  arrived  on  the  lower 
Columbia  in  the  autumn  of  1832  there  were  no  Americana  there  nor  any 
one  having  an  American  feeling.  So  far  as  I  know  there  had  not  been 
since  Mr.  Astor  retired  from  the  coast." 
'  McLoughlin,  Narrative. 

»  Kelley  states  as  his  reason  for  choosing  this  circuitous  route  his  desire 
to  negotiate  arrangements  for  trade  in  lumber  and  fish  between  the  Mexi- 
can ports  and  the  Columbia  River. 

»  Wyeth,  Correspondence  and  Journals. 

w  According  U  KeUey,  a  copy  of  the  Manual  had  been  handed  to 
Dr.  McLoughlin  by  Captain  Dominis  of  the  ship  Owyhee,  Boston.  1829. 

"  Young  believed  that  this  was  a  charge  trumped  up  to  cover  the  un- 
warranted confiscation  of  his  stock  of  furs  worth  $20,000.  CM.  Walker, 
his  biographer,  describes  him  as  "a  candid  and  scrupulously  honest  man, 
thorough-going,  brave  and  daring." 

"  Quoted  in  Kelley,  Narrative  of  Events  and  Difficulties,  50. 
"  Franchfere,  Narrative,  341. 
"  Wyeth.  Correspondence  and  Journals,  192. 

"  Two  died  under  the  pernicious  atmosphere  of  the  white  man's  civili- 
nation,  but  two  set  out  for  the  mountains  in  the  following  spring.  They 
furnished  Catlin  subjects  for  a  famous  picture. 

"Daniel  Lee,  in  his  Ten  Years  in  Oregon  (110).  states  that  "  a  high- 
wrought  account  of  the  visit  of  these  Indians  to  St.  Louis,  by  some  writer 
in  the  vicinity,  was  published  in  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal.  New 
York  City,  in  March,  1833." 
"  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  122. 

»  "Along  the  river  we  found  about  a  do«en  famUies,  mostly  French 
Canadians  who  had  been  hunters  in  the  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,' or  free  trappers,  and  had  veiy  lately  left  that  employment 
and  begun  to  farm,  that  themselves  and  families  might  have  a  surer  sup- 
port and  greater  security  than  they  could  whUc  following  the  hazardous 
life  of  hunters."  — Lee  and  Frost,  Oregori,  125. 
"  Leo  and  Frost,  Oregon,  125. 
»  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  127. 

«'  An  intcrniittent  fever  peculiariy  deadly  among  the  Indians  broke 
out  in  1H2-J  and  spread  like  a  pestilence  up  the  rivers  to  the  remoter  vil- 
lages. According  to  Kelley,  the  disease  was  bred  by  the  '  excessive  fa  th 
and  slovenly  habits  of  the  English  settlement  at  Vancouver,  but  timt 
Dr.  McLoughliu  hud  wickedly  told  the  Indians  it  had  been  scattered^uii 
the  water  by  Captain  Oomiuiri  of  tho  American  brig,  Owyhff.  .«  -as 
been  more  sanely  attributed  to  tho  degraded  habits  and  degenerate 
physique  of  the  natives,  and  to  the  turning  up  of  the  new  BoU  at  \  an- 


■m 


m\ 


NOTES 


375 


couvcr  and  at  French  Prairie.  Wyeth  described  the  situation  at  Wappa- 
too  Island  in  1834.  ' '  A  mortality  has  carried  off  to  a  man  the  inhabitants 
and  there  is  nothing  to  attest  that  they  ever  existed  except  their  decaying 
houses,  their  graves,  and  their  unburied  bones  of  which  there  are  heaps. 
So  you  see,  as  the  righteous  people  of  New  England  say,  Providence  has 
made  room  for  me  and  without  doing  thorn  more  injury  than  I  should  if 
I  had  made  room  for  myself,  vi».  (by)  killing  them  oS."  —  Wyeth,  Cor- 
respondence and  Journals,  149. 

«  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  131. 

"  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  311. 

"  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  150. 

»'  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  129. 

"  White,  Ten  Years  in  Oregon.  92. 

•'  American  Historical  Review,  XIV,  79. 

"  "Among  the  curiosities  of  this  establishment  were  the  fore  wheels. 
Bile  tree  and  thills  of  a  one-horse  waggon,  said  to  have  been  run  by  the 
American  missionaries  from  the  State  of  Connecticut  through  the  moun- 
tains thus  far  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  It  was  loft  here  under 
the  belief  that  it  could  not  be  taken  through  the  Blue  Mountains.  But 
fortunately  for  the  next  that  shall  attempt  to  cross  the  Continent,  a  safe 
and  easy  passage  has  lately  been  discovered  by  which  vehicles  of  the  kind 
may  be  drawn  through  to  Walla  walla." 

Editor's  Note.  When  Joseph  Mook  came  through  in  1840,  ho  secured 
the  remains  of  this  historic  wagon  and  transported  his  family  therein  to 
Dr.  Whitman's  station  at  Walla  Walla.  —  Famham,  Travels,  I,  322. 

«•  Mrs.  Whitman,  Journal,  54. 

"  Mrs.  Whitman,  Journal,  65. 

"  Mrs.  Whitman,  Journal,  149. 

*>  The  first  enaagt  to  make  the  request  was  Eticnne  Lucier  (1829). 

"  Trade  prices  were  estimated  at  80  per  cent  advance. 

"  On  his  first  return  Wyeth  addressed  a  letter  to  LowisCasa,  then  Soc- 
retaryof  War(Dec.  9,  1833),  stating,  " There  are  west  r)f  the  Mts.  Many 
gpntlemen  and  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  ('ompaiiy  who  have  Indian 
wives  and  families  and  who  are  desirous  of  retiring  from  active  life,  hut 
ihcy  cannot  woll  mingle  in  society  as  it  is  constituted  in  Groat  Brifain  or 
the  United  States  and  enquiring  on  what  terms  thoy  might  take  up  land 
and  whether  they  could  be  guaranteed  at  least  the  value  of  iniprovr- 
mi'nts,  in  case  the  American  government  ever  came  into  possession  of 
this  country." 

»  Famham,  Travels,  I,  287. 

"Farnh.ani,  Travels,  II,  17. 

"  UastingB,  Oregon  and  California,  22. 


I  1 


■     i 


I  t 


376 


NOTES 


^'l'\ 


,iV 


V- 


iiu- 


»  American  Historical  Revien;  XIV,  80. 
»  Mrs.  Whitman,  Journal,  148. 

«  Whitman's  Letter  from  the  Shawnee  Mission,  May  2'/.  1843. 

«  Fremont,  First  Expedition,  133. 

«  Burnet.  Recollections  and  Opinions  of  an  Old  Pioneer,  142. 

«  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  Transactions,  1886,  24. 

**  McLoughlin,  Narrative,  203. 

«  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  I,  13. 

"  Benton,  TMrty  Years'  View,  1, 13. 

«'  In  1825,  Dr.  McLouglilin  was  officially  informed  that  the  British 
claim  would  not  be  urged  for  the  region  south  of  the  Columbia. 

4«  The  Americans  raUied  52  votes  in  favor  and  the  Canadians  .50 
against. 

«•  One  of  the  mischances  that  rendered  difficult  the  endeavor  of  this 
much-perplexed  man  to  hold  to  a  consistent  course  was  the  arrival,  a  f.-w 
days  after  this  oath  was  taken,  of  an  English  man-of-war  sent  by  a  dila- 
tory ministry  to  assure  British  subjects  of  adequate  protection ! 

«  Linn's  bill  was  suggested  by  Jason  Lee.  It  was  supported  by  p.  ti- 
tions  from  citizens  of  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Ohio.  Iowa,  and  from  the  logis- 
lature  of  Missouri.     The  biU  passed  the  Senate  but  faJed  m  the  Houao. 

"iPalmer,  Journal,  159.    Cf  165. 

«  The  state  resold  this  property  to  McLoughlin's  heirs  for  $1000  in 
1862. 

M  The  McLoughlin  Document,  55. 

Chapteb  II 

1  The  actual  encampment  was  moved  to  KanesviUe,  Iowa,  in  1S4S, 
and  to  Florence.  Nebrask.^  in  1854.  Keokuk.  Iowa,  and  Independeuce, 
Missouri,  were  occasionally  used  for  large  parties 

I  The  prescribed  outfit  for  a  family  of  five  was  one  wagon,  three  >;<.kes 
of  cattle  two  cows,  two  steers,  three  sheep,  one  thousand  pounds  of  flour. 
twenty  pounds  of  sugar,  a  tent  and  bedding,  seeds,  famnng  tools,  aud  a 
rifle,  an  equipment  adequate  for  a  long  journey. 

•  William  Clayton,  Historical  Record,  IX,  58. 

«  Careful  restrictions  were  imposed  on  the  use  of  the  scant  forests,  e.g. 
none  fit  for  buUding  purposes  was  to  be  used  as  fuel. 

»  So  Woodruff,  quoted  by  Linn.  The  Story  of  the  Mormons,  396. 

•  Stanabury,  Expedition  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  142. 
'Kelley,  Excursion  to  California,  229. 


';» 


.wwa 


^S?  .    -^Mif-'i'S-^'--^'':'-^^ 


!i 


NOTES 


377 


» Each  iiDmigrant  signed  a  contract  agreeing  that  "on  our  arrival  in 
the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley,  we  will  hold  ourselves,  our  time  and  our  labor, 
subject  to  the  appropriation  of  the  Perpetual  Emigration  Fund  Company, 
until  the  full  cost  of  our  emigration  is  paid,  with  interest  if  required." 

•  Cf.  Report  of  the  Parliamentary  Commission.  Also  Charles  Dickens, 
The  Commercial  Traveler,  Edinburgh  Review,  January,  1862. 


10  Bancroft,  Utah,  420. 

»  Brigham  Young's  order  of  January  14,  1847. 


Tullidge,  Salt  Lake 


City,  638. 

u  Orson  Pratt,  quoted  by  Linn,  403. 

"  Letter  to  Orson  Pratt,  October  14,  1849. 

"  Quoted  by  Tullidge,  Salt  Lake  City. 

"Stansbury  states  (Expedition  to  Great  Salt  !,ake,  130-131)  that 
strict  justice  was  meted  out  to  Saint  and  Gentile — that  Mormon 
courts  were  frequently  appealed  to  by  Californian  emigrants  who  had 
quarrelled  among  themselves,  that  ho  knew  of  one  instance  where  the 
marshal  of  Deseret  was  "despatched  with  an  adequate  force,  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  into  the  western  desert,  in  pursuit  of  some  miscreants  who 
had  stolen  off  with  nearly  the  whole  outfit  of  a  party  of  emigrants." 
They  were  overtaken  and  brought  back  and  the  property  restored. 

i«  Fort  Bridger  had  been  purchased  by  the  church  as  an  emigrant 
station,  1853. 

"  KcUey,  Excursion  to  California,  I,  226-227. 
1'  Stansbury,  Expedition,  83. 
'•  Stansbury,  Expedition,  223. 
*>  Stansbury,  Expedition,  230. 
»i  Gunnison,  Great  Salt  Lake,  Pt.  II,  Chap.  VIII. 
»  Jules  Rcmy,  Journey  to  Salt  Lake  City,  I,  196. 
"  Remy,  I,  1<>6,  197. 
"  Remy,  I,  214. 
"  Remy,  I,  217. 

"  Chandless,  Visit  to  Salt  Lake,  54. 
"  Chandless,  Salt  Lake,  35. 
»«  Burton,  City  of  the  Saints.  174. 
"  Burton,  City  of  the  Sainln,  198,  441. 
»  Burton,  City  of  the  Saints,  216. 
"  Simpson,  Explorations,  136. 
"  Cooke,  New  Mexico  and  California. 

**  B.g  Captain  Brown  carried  back  three  thousand  dollars  with  which 
he  planted  his  stake  on  the  Weber. 


1    ( 


1       I 


i  1   i 


sasHOSMgr^'^" 


378 


NOTES 


Chaptbb  III 


m 


Mi 


iH 


'>'\ 


«  White,  Ten  Years  in  Oregon,  119. 

>  In  1841.  according  to  Wilkes,  the  export  o{  beaver  was  two  thousand 
Bkins  ut  $2  each  ;  sea-otter,  five  hundred  skins  at  $30  each  ;  elk  and  u.-er, 
three  thousand  skins  at  from  fifty  cents  to  $1  apiece. 

>  De  Mofras  states  that,  in  1841,  two  thousand  horses  were  sent  to 
New  Mexico  by  this  route.  They  were  purchased  for  $8  to  $10.  sold  for 
$40  to  $50. 

*  \  census  of  foreigners  taken  in  1840  enumerated  sixteen  foreigners  at 
Verba  Buena,  all  Americans,  thirty-one  at  San  Josfe,  mostly  British  sub- 
jects ten  at  Branciforte,  .American  hunters  and  sailors,  thirty  at  Montn- 
rev  English  and  American  merchants,  as  many  more  of  the  same  class  at 
Santa  Barbara,  twenty-three  at  Los  Angeles,  American  traders  and 
French  fruit  growers,  but  only  seven  at  San  Diego,  the  former  resort  <,( 
the  drogher  ships.  The  urban  population  in  1846  was  between  four  and 
five  thousand,  e.g.  San  Jos6  600  to  800,  Los  Angeles  1250.  Branciforte 
470.  Santa  Barbara  900,  Monterey  500,  Yerba  Buena  800. 

'  American  Historical  Review,  14  :  77,  89. 

•  Simpson  held  that  under  the  Conventionof  1790,  Britain  might  sottlR 
any  part  of  the  coast  between  42°,  the  United  States  boundary,  and  3.H 
the  northernmost  Spanish  occupation. 

'  W.  H.  Davis,  Sixty  Fears,.65. 

•  Wilkes,  Expedition,  V,  158,  182. 

>  J  J  Warner  printed  an  article  on  California  and  Oregon,  in  Colonial 
Magazine,  1841,  describing  advantages  of   California   and   proposing  a 
railroad  to  the  Columbia. 
">  E.g.  Farnham's  letters. 
"  Borthwick,  Thret  Years  in  California,  148. 
>'  Fremont,  Second  Expedition,  232-236. 
»  Tehachapi  Pass,  according  to  Bancroft. 
"  Rcmy.  I.  53. 

"  Hastings,  Oregon  and  CaUJornia,  126. 
"  Cooke,  Conquest  of  New  Mexico,  and  California.  61. 
"  Cooke,  Conqu'st,  34. 
"  Cooke,  Conquest,  45. 
"  Jones,  Land  TUhf<,  279. 

«  Jones'  report  set  aside-  any  consideration  of  the  claims  of  tr."J;-:-"' 
ciscaris  and  the  Indians.  The  first  were  disproved  by  the  '»"  of '>M  'V 
which  the  mis,iionaries  were  given  only  a  ten  years  usufruct  of  the  tr.ict3 


•   ^ 


.  •  r  f  ,\i^->1 


NOTES 


i79 


tilled  under  th.ir  direction.  The  report  recommended  ihat  in  the  case 
of  the  survivinK  missions,  the  chu-ch,  the  priest's  residence,  and  two 
hundred  varas  of  land  should  he  graLted  to  Catholic  parishes,  any  other 
buildings  and  land  to  be  assigned  ti  the  county  for  the  use  of  pulilic 
schools,  in  accordance  with  the  Act  ot  IS'W.  The  rights  of  the  Indians  in 
the  mission  lands  had  been  recognize  d  both  by  Spanish  and  Mexican 
cmictmeuts,  but  the  intent  of  this  legislation  had  been  negatived  by  the 
maladministration  of  recent  years.  "The  n,:niber  of  subjugated  Indians 
i.s  now  too  small,  and  the  lands  they  occupy  too  insignificant  in  amount  for 
their  protection  to  the  extent  of  the  law  to  cause  any  considerable  moles- 
tation." Title  to  abandoned  Indian  holdings  she-Id  properly  lapse  to 
the  state.  Spaiush  law  recognized  no  rights  to  the  „id  appertaining  to 
the  wild  tribes  of  the  interior. 

"  Quoted  by  Charles  Robinson  in  his  Histonj  of  Kansas,  38. 

«  The  new-comers  were  misled  by  the  extravagant  prices  paid  for  town 
lots  during  the  gold  craze,  when  lai>  I  in  San  Francisco  ami  Sacramento 
gold  at  one  thousand  dollars  per  acre.  Large  tracts  of  rural  land  were 
offered  by  American  speculators  at  from  thirty-se\-en  t(j  seventy-five 
cents  per  acre  in  1857.  —  Seyd,  California  and  its  Resources. 

"  Chandless,  Visit  to  Salt  Lake,  315. 

"  This  report  reached  Washington  in  September,  '48,  and  was  immedi- 
ately printed  by  the  Baltimore  Sun,  September  liO. 

»  Quoted  in  Schoonover,  General  Sutter,  180. 

"  The  Aspinwall  contract  provided  for  an  annual  subsidy  of  $199,000 
for  carrying  the  mail  from  Panama  to  San  Francisco  and  Portland,  Ore- 
gon. Law  secured  $290,000  per  year  for  the  New  York  to  Chagres  ser- 
vice. 

«■  Butler  King  estimated  that  l."),000  foreigners  reached  California  in 
18-19  (10,000  of  thera  Mexicans),  and  40,000  Americans.  The  total  white 
population  in  1850  was  reported  by  the  census  to  be  115,000. 

""These  are  the  most  j  rimitive  kind  of  contrivances  for  grinding 
quartz.  They  are  circular  places,  te  i  or  twelve  f.-et  in  diameter,  flagged 
with  flat  stones,  and  in  these  the  iiuartz  is  crushed  by  two  large  heavy 
stones  dragged  round  and  round  by  a  mule  harm  sscd  to  a  horizontal 
beam,  to  which  they  are  also  attached.  The  ()uart/.  is  already  broken  up 
into  small  pieces  before  being  put  into  th(  raster,  and  a  constant  supply 
of  water  is  necessary  to  facilitate  the  operation,  the  stuff,  while  being 
ground,  having  the  appearance  of  a  rich  white  mud."  This  is  mix(!(l  with 
quicksilver  to  take  up  the  gold,  and  the  amalgam  is  reduced  to  its  native 
elements  in  a  retort.  —  Borthwick,  Three  Years  in  California,  244-245. 

"  Hittell,  Resources  of  California.  Ill,  13.3-135.  '1  '>ie  Princeton.  Jose- 
phine, Pine  Tree,  and  Mariposa  mines  were  profitable  for  a  few  y^ara,  but 
were  not  worked  after  1865. 

>'  Kelley,  Excuraifm  to  California.  II.  2tj8-  209. 

"  Tyson,  Geolooy  and  Induslrial  ■ourres  nf  Cnlifnrvin,  comploins  in 
hij  preface  that  the  admini.stratiuu  aHW  tit  to  delay  publication  of  his 


\   ' 


380 


NOTES 


•  i»  : 


" 


I*    i'l 


•V: 


conclusiona   while   rushing  the   hasty   generaliwtiona   of   the   Georgia 
senator  before  the  public. 
"  Tyson,  California,  38. 
»  Shaw,  Oolden  Dreams,  120. 

•4  Exceptions  to  this  rule  are  Shaw's  Golden  Dreams  and  Waking  Riali- 
ties  Carson's  Early  Recollections  of  the  Mines,  Helper's  Land  of  Gold. 
On  the  other  hand,  Simpson's  Three  Weeks  in  the  Gold  Mines  leads  hk.'  a 
promoter's  prospectus. 

»  Carson,  Early  Recollections,  8. 
»•  Kolley,  Excursion,  II,  '-44. 
»"  Kelley,  Excursion,  II,  243. 
"  Cf.  Soyd's  figures,  California,  67. 

»•  A  saving  of  2  per  cent  in  freights  and  insurance.  —  Scyd.  Moro  tlmi. 
a  million  dollars  in  silver  was  sent  from  Mexico  on  Knglish  a-xoui.t  t., 
be  trans-shipped  to  Canton. 

«Th..  miners'  code  gave  p.-mianent  control  ..f  a  water  supply  t..  th. 

first  appropriator,  un.l  he  was  .e.iuircd  to  n.akc  n,.  < pcnsat..ry  „:i> - 

ment  to  the  con.n.unity.  A  datcl  notice  stating  the  a.nount  of  w.  ,  r 
pr.*mpted  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  establish  a  daun  to  the  lU.w  ..f  a 
given  stream. 

«  A  miner's  inch  is  the  amount  of  water  which  escapes  in  a  workinK 
day  through  an  orifice  an  inch  square  under  a  pressure  of  six  inchc.  of  tlo« . 
,«  Bancroft  estimated  the  capital  invested  in  ditches  an<l  fl"'"-  ■'"'' 
reservoirs  in  the  seventeen  mining  counties  of  V''/.""""  '^t-THK. 
for  1854  and  $6,341,7(K.  tor  1«55.  Scyd  gives  the  hgure  »4..3N,,(HH.  for 
the  eight  placer-mining  counties  in  Ih-W.  Hittells  estimate  for  is-  ,. 
$.0(K)0  000.  The  invest.pent  was  a  hazardous  one.  necessitating  hmi. 
returns."  The  wages  of  laln.r  constituted  .  hea^y  item  of  expense  t he 
WKKlen  flumes  needed  constant  re,>airing.  and  iron  piping  was  not  o  .,■ 
ha<l  in  the  first  years.     When  the  «ul.«i.liar.v  placers  wen-  exhausted,  th 

^^.tcrworks  were  almost  valueless.     A.. ding  to   ll.ttell  s   U. ......  - 

CnUforuu.,  there  were,  in   1H71.  five  hundre.l  an.    sixteen  nuning  .h.,1,.. 
with  a  total  approximate  length  of  forty-eight  hundred  miles. 

"(juarti  mining  is  ...le  of  the  most  uncertain  of  inyestments.  sinr,.  it 
is  „uit..  impossible  to  predicate  the  location  or  the  yield  of  a  v.mu.      I  h<  < 

is  L  business  in  whi.h  it  is  ier  to  waste  n.oney  by  '-■">;•-;■;;;:;;; 

lessn<-ss  or  gullibility.     Huntleys  Cahforn.a  gives  an  Lnghsh  mv.  sf.r . 
■hrewd  opinion  of  the  chances  of  success.  ,,     ,      ■     ic„r,..v 

According  to  Ashburner.  of  the  Tni...  Mates  '■-'*<■';  ^ '7.  ; 
there  were,  in  lHf.8.  at  lea.t  two  hundred  and  e>«hty  -.uartz  nil  s  m  (  . 
fornia  erected  at  a  cost  of  *:«.(MMMK)0  ;  but  no  more  th:...  f-^'-V  ""> 
..,.«rt.  mines  wen-  p..ying  .xpcses.  These  were  v.-ry  heavy.  _  Th.  •  v 
c^uvati....  an.l  tin.bcring  ..f  tu.„...|s  an.i  shi.f.H,  i....s....H  .i.  .ir  .-inu  .j^^.-  -. 
pumps  for  the  removal  of  water,  stamp  ...ills,  roasting  furna.cs,  and  .,...1 


>lf-^%' 


NOTES 


381 


gamatore.  made  a  sum  total  of  cost  which  could  only  bo  made  good  by  the 
richest  veins.  Philip's  Mining  and  Metallurgy  gives  the  following  data 
for  the  yield  of  the  four  largest  Btamp-mills :  — 


I  ' 


Yield  per  Ton  oj  Quartz 
Mariposa.     The  Benton.  $8.98 
Tuolomne.    The  Union,  $50.00 
Calaveras.    Crystal,         $80.00 
Nevada.        Gold  Hill,     $70.00 


Coal  oj  Treating  per  Ton 
$1.04 
$3.81 
$8.31 
$2.91 


«  Tyson,  California,  39. 

"  Hittell,  History  of  California.  Ill,  Chap.  XI. 

*'  If  a  foreigner  was  working  for  an  American,  his  employer  paid  the 
fee. 

"Emigration  fiKur.>8  of  '54,  24,000;  -.55,  23,000;   '57,  17,000. 

"  The  United  States  mint  was  not  cstabliHhed  in  San  Francisco  until 
1856. 

«•  Two  hundred  and  forty-six  vessels  put  into  San  Francisco  in  1850 
with  a  total  tonnage  of  :  iTH.lK)'.'.  KiKhty-onc  of  these  came  from  New 
y.  'c  and  forty-four  from  other  .\tlantic  ports  :  forty-two  hailed  from 
C  and  tweiity-lwo  from  C.reat  Britain.     The  fnights  paid  on  this 

traiiic  amounted  to  $4,592,104,  more  by  $.5(K),0(M)  than  in  1866.  but  less 
than  half  the  su!     for  1853.     ($11,752,104.  — Scyd.) 

"'Tyson,  California,  XIII. 

"  In  1880  Miller  and  Lux  owned  750,000  acres  in  California,  100,000 
citlle,  and  80,000  sheep.  —  Bancroft,  XIX,  07. 

"  A  native  three-year-old  weighed  six  hundred  pounds  and  was  worth 
but  $50,  whereas  a  threi^iuartcr  grade  animal  weighing  fifteen  hundred 
p()und.t  would  sell  for  $.'{(H). 

"Thousands  died  of  starvation,  and  hundreds  of  thousand  were 
sl^iughtered  for  the  hides.  There  were  JOj.OOO  cattle  in  California  in 
IhJO,  I.OOO.OIM)  in  18^),  2,000,000  in  1802,  and  but  820,000 in  1870.  —  Hit- 
trll,  Iniliistriiil  /i'>.<r)i/rff.». 

"The  wor>l  dip  of  California  was  170,000  pound.t  in  18,54,  300.000 
pmtuU  in  1H.55,  3,2(K),(MK)  in  IWK),  r.,445,0<KI  m  lKf.5,  19.700,0(X)  in  1N70, 
2:<,(MH),0(K)  in  1872,  :«),(K)0,(KK)  m  1h73.  In  the  Federal  census  for  1870, 
rulifiirnia  was  reported  as  possessing  the  finest  herds  of  shi^ep  in  the 
I'liitcd  States  and  producing  the  niost  wool. 

"Years  of  drought;  1849  IS,50,  18,-,2  1853.  1801-1862,  1867-1868, 
lS7I-iK72,  1877-1878.  18H()    IKhl. 

•"  In  IHM  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  decided  that  it  was  unlawful 
to  so  work  a  mile  !is  to  iiijuri"  adjacent  prop«>rty. 

»■  The  lilled  area  was  1,774.<HK)  acres  in  1H66,  2.992,000  in  1870,  and 
4,.')IKI,(MH)  in  1874.     Of  this  acreage,  one-third  was  in  the  8au  Jouijuiu 


I     I 


I    1 
I    1 


FE7Mg^^<^.;i;MM3?^mmmis^i^miiimm£mm 


i^mism^M^.'^s^i^fW, 


382 


NOTES 


I'lt 


nil 


^;2 


•iil 


tl 


valley,  one-third  on  the  south  coast,  and  the  remaining  third  north  of  the 
Bay,  pretty  equally  divided  between  the  coast  and  the  Sacramento  valley. 

»•  The  average  annual  rainfall  on  the  north  coast  was  70  inches ;  at 
Cape  Mendocino,  40  inches ;  at  San  Francisco.  22  inches ;  at  Monterey, 
16  inches ;  at  San  Diego,  10  inches.  The  precipitation  was  less  at  cor- 
responding points  in  the  interior. 

"Years  of  extreme  drought.  1850-1851.  1863-1864.  1876-1877. 

•  Two,  five,  and  ten  ploughs  were  used  in  a  gang,  each  making  a  furrow 
from  eight  to  ton  inches  wide  and  from  four  to  five  inches  deep.  By  this 
invention,  the  cost  of  ploughing  was  reduced  from  $3  to  forty  cents 
an  acre. 

•'  The  average  yield  was  sixteen  bushels  in  1867.  eighteen  in  1868, 
sixteen  in  1869.  and  thirteen  in  1870. 

"  In  1871  there  were  nine  hundred  and  fifteen  irrigating  ditches  in 
California,  and  water  was  supplied  to  90,344  acres,  about  one-fiftieth  of 
the  total  area  under  cultivation.  —  Hitt  11,  Re»ource»  of  Califomia,  268. 

"In  1848  there  were  200,000  grape-vines  in  Califomia,  the  larRe 
vineyards  being  in  the  neighborhood  of  Los  Angeles,  in  the  San  Gabriol 
Valley  and  on  the  Vallejo  estate  at  Sonoma.  Little  was  done  by  way  of 
improving  the  old  mission  stock  until  1853-1856,  when  some  enterpris- 
ing vitieulturisU  brought  Eastern  and  European  vines.  The  superiority 
of  the  foreign  grapes  Ixjth  for  table  use  and  in  the  wineries  was  soon  .vi- 
dent,  and  by  1870  two  hundred  varieties  imported  from  Franco,  Spain, 
Gorniany,  and  Hungary  were  successfully  produced,  the  remarkable  di- 
versity of  soil  and  climate  providing  a  habitat  for  each.  There  were  in 
that  year  30,000,000  grape-vinos  in  the  state,  25,000,000  in  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Basin  and  the  interior  vaUeys.  The  average  yield  was  1:',(HM1 
pounds  to  the  acre,  double  that  expected  in  Germany.  France,  or  the 
Eastern  state*.  Wineries  were  mainUined  in  connection  with  the  Rnat 
vineyards. 

"The  State  Agricultural  Society,  organised  in  1854.  did  niiuh  to 
further  the  development  of  the  latent  resourres  of  California  by  hoMiiiR 
annual  fairs,  offering  premiums  lor  exhibiU,  calling  attention  to  suco(-sful 
ventures,  etc. 

"  The  Union  Iron  Works  had  their  origin  in  the  blacksmith  shop  of 
the  Donahue  i.rothers,  skilled  merhunics  who  began  business  in  IH40. 
The  Pacific  Rolling  Mills  were  estab'isliod  in  1860. 

"In  the  decade  of  the  Civil  War  there  were  184  sailing  vesselH  mimI 
«.»•.>  steamers  built  on  the  Pacific  coast,  supplying  a  total  Ireight  cupa.ity 
ui  fifty  thousand  tuns. 

«  William  Shaw,  GMen  [heam;  170-171. 

•  William  Shaw,  GMen  Hrrama,  172. 

M|j,  jsfl7  thpre  were  fifty  thcusaod  Orisntals  In  California,  only  35 
per  cent  of  these  in  the  mines. 


.tJ'^ 


NOTES  383 


Part  V 
Chapter  I 

>  Olmsted,  CoUon  Kingdom,  I,  296. 
«  Olmsted,  Cotton  Kingdom,  I,  324. 

•  For  an  excellent  description  of  the  procene  of  planting,  cutting,  grind- 
ing, and  boiling,  see  Olmsted,  I,  325-330. 

•  For  description  of  cotton  plantation,  aec  Olmsted,  II,  176-180. 
Also  Flint,  Recollections  of  the  Past  Ten  Yean,  325,  and  Nuttall,  Travels, 
301-302. 

•  Olmsted,  CoUon  Kingdom,  II,  151. 

•  Olmsted,  I,  373. 

'  Quoted  from  The  Cotton  Planter;  Olmsted,  Cotton  Kingdom,  II.  187. 

•  Olmsted,  I,  306-367. 

•  Olnntixl,  n,  4. 
'oOlm.ited,  II,  12. 

"  Boyaton  and  Mason,  Kansas,  30,  cf.  76. 

Chapter  II 

>  The  principle  of  popular  sovereiRnty  is  thus  net  forth  in  the  Act ;  "  It 
btiug  'he  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  Act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into 
any  state  or  territory,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  peopl(! 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in 
their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

»  The  towns  of  Lawrence,  Topeka,  Osawatonile.  Pawnee,  Grasshopper 
Falls,  Boston,  Hampden,  and  Wabounsee  were  so  founded. 

'  Boynton  dnd  Mason,  74. 

•  Boynton  and  Mason,  13. 

•  Boynton  and  Mason,  2.3-24. 
'  Boynton  and  Mason,  100. 

'  Quoted  by  Thayer.  The  Kansas  Crusade,  185. 

'  The  towns  of  Kickupoo,  Leavenworth,  Lecompion,  Doniphan,  and 
Atchison  were  founded  by  the  Missuurians. 

•The  consm  of  Febniary,  IS.M.  returned  .-»  white  population  of  8601, 
and  192  slavi>8.  The  men  entitle<l  to  vote  were  U'.M).'),  of  whom  U>7()  were 
from  the  Southern  states  and  11)18  from  the  North  ;  but  n.any  of  thefno 
Btnte  men  had  gone  home  for  the  winter,  so  that  the  census  did  not  fairly 
nprifont  their  voting  strength.  Moreover,  the  "poor  whites"  were  not 
usually  in  favor  of  slavery. 


i' 


1       I 


^i«r-w*v.s2" 


384 


NOTES 


♦  :■' 


w>  Of  the  6307  votes  cast  on  March  30,  1855,  4908  were  found  to  be 
illegal. 

"  Robinson,  Kansas,  229-230. 

"  Higginson,  Ride  throudh  Kansas,  6. 

»  Bowles,  Across  the  Continent,  9. 

"  Bowles,  Across  the  Continent,  138-139. 

Chapter  III 

>  Excerpt  from  the  Memorial  submitted  to   Congress  in   1846  and 
printed  as  Doc.  173,  H.R.,  29th  Congress,  let  sess. 

*  Whitney,  Project  for  a  Pacific  RaUxeaj/. 

*  Burton,  City  of  the  Saints.  16. 

*  Simpson,  Explorilions,  Appendix. 
'  Fremont,  First  Expediiion,  60. 

Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  1,  102. 
'  Conoressional  Globe,  1850,  Pt.  II,  1463. 

*  Congressional  Globe,  1850,  Pt.  II.  1459. 

*  Coni/ressional  Globe,  1853-1854,  Pt.  I.  653-564. 


'I 


ir 


^     ^i^^ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


i 


■  I 


( f 


h! 


t    t 

i 

!     : 


»    • 


■''^  ■■■■•XT 


5?"'«r" 


■1 


VOLUME   II 

PART  III 

ADVANCE  OF  THE  SETTLERS 

CHAPTER  I.  — LOUISIANA 

An  Account  of  Louisiana. 

Being  an  abstract  of  Documents  in  the  offices  of  the  Depart- 
ments of  State  and  of  the  Treasury. 
Printed  at  Philadelphia,  1803. 

Compiled  at  the  instance  of  President  Jefferson  and  extensively 
distributed.  Some  forty  different  editions  were  issued,  but  it  is  now  a 
rare  pamphlet. 

Carpenter,  Edmund  J. 
The  American  Advance. 
John  Lane.    London,  1903. 

Successive  annexations,  Louisiana,  Florida,  Texas. 

De  Bow,  J.  D.  B. 
Industrial  Resources  of  the  Southern  and  Western  States. 

In  three  vols.     New  Orleans,  1852. 
See  index  for  Louisiana,  Arkansas,   Negroes,  Slavery,  Sugar. 

Dunbar,  William. 
Exploration  of  Red  River. 
American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  721-743. 

Recently  reprinted  by  the  American  Philosophical  Society. 

Flint,  Timothy. 
Recollections  of  the  Last  Ten  Years. 
Boston,  1826. 
Gnyarr6,  Charles. 
History  of  Louisiana. 
New  York,  IHOG. 

Vol.  I,  French  domination. 
Vol.  II,  Spanish  flamitiati"r.. 
Vol.  Ill,  American  domination  to  1H60. 

387 


'    >       I 

I    I      I 


388 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


»  ■ 


ii' 


ritt 


Hill,  Frederick  Trevor. 

Decisive  Battles  of  the  Law. 
Harper  &  Bros.,  1907. 

A  Scotch  Verdict  in  the  Burr  Conspiracy  Case. 
Jefferson,  Thomas. 

Account  of  Louisiana.    Philadelphia,  1803. 
Kirkputrick,  J.  E. 

Timothy  Flint,  Pioneer,  Missionary,  Author,  Publisher,  1780- 

1840. 

Arthur  H.  Clark  Co.    Cleveland,  1911. 
McCaleh,  W.  F. 
The  Aaron  Burr  Conspiracy. 
Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  1903. 
Martin,  Frangois  Xavier. 
History  of  Louisiana,  168&-1815. 
New  Orleans,  1882. 
Nuttall,  Thomas. 
Travels  into  the  Arkansas  Territory,  1819-20. 
Philadelphia,  1821. 

Early  Western  Travels,  Vol.  XIII. 
Olmsted,  Frederick  Law. 
The  Cotton  Kingdom. 
London,  1861. 
Sible\i,  Dr.  John,  of  Fayetteville. 

Tetter  to  J.  Sales  of  Raleigh,  reporting  his  observations  on 
Louisiana. 

Printed  by  Sales,  Dec.  14,  1803. 
Sibley,  Dr.  John. 

Explorations  of    Red  River   and   Wa.shita  River,    1803-04. 
Reports  published  in  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs, 
Vol.  I,  721-743 
Stoddard,  Amoi. 

Sketches  of  Louisiana. 
Philadelphia,  1812. 

CHAI'TER  II.  -  MISSOURI 


isl 


1  'I 


A^ixtiv,  Moses. 

l,o!v.]  Mines  of  Missouri. 
American  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  Vol.  Ill,  188-191 
(1804),  009-613,  707  712  (18101. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


389 


Bek,  W.  G. 

The   German   Settlement   Soci<ty   of   PhiladelpWa   and   its 
colony,  Hcnnann,  Missouri. 

American  Germanica  Press,  Philadelpliia,  1907. 
Benton,  Thomas  H. 
Abridgment  of  Debates  of  Congress,  1789-1856. 
New  York,  1857-61. 

Thirty  Years  View. 

New  York,  1854-56.    2  vols. 
Can,  Lucien. 
Missouri ;  the  Bone  of  Contention. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1894.    The  American  Commonwealth 
Series. 
Chittenden,  H.  M. 
History  of  Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  the  Missouri  River. 
Francis  P.  Harper,  1903. 

Based  on  the  life  and  adventures  of  Joseph  La  Barge,  an  old-timo 
captain. 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.     (Mark  Twain.) 

Life  on  the  Mississippi. 

Houghton  Miffin  Co.,  1874. 

Flagg,  Edward. 

The  Far  West. 

Early  Western  Travels,  Vols.  XXVI-XXVII. 

Flint,  James. 

Letters  from  America. 

Edinburgh,  1822. 

Early  Western  Travels,  Vol.  IX. 

Harding,  S.  C. 

George  B.  Smith,  Founder  of  Scdalia,  Missouri. 

Privately  printed  at  Sedalia,  1907. 

Uouck,  Louis. 

The  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri. 

Donnelly  &  Son  Company.    Chicago,  1909. 

An  important  series  of  documents  Rathered  at  .Seville  and  the  City  of 
Mi'xico  and  illustrating  trade  regulations  and  other  departments  of 
Spanish  colonial  policy. 

James,  Edunn. 

pApedition  from  Pittsburg  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  under 
conduct  of  Major  S.  H.  Long,  1819  20. 

Early  Western  Travels,  Vols.  XIV,  XV,  XVI,  XVII. 


\      i 


M 


390 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Kargan,  E.  D. 
Missouri's  German  Immigration. 
Missouri  Historical  Society  CoUections,  Vol.  II,  Nos.  1, 
23,  34. 
Meigs,  W.  M. 
Thomas  Hart  Benton, 
rhiladelphia,  1904. 
Merrick,  Geo.  B. 
Old  Times  on  the  Upper  Mississippi. 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  1909. 
Schoolcraft,  //.  R. 
A  view  of  the  Lead  Mines  of  Missouri. 
New  York,  1819. 


S  1 1 


1 1 


^:,s 


CHAPTER  III. -THE  SANTA  FE  TRADE 

Bicknell,  William. 
Journal  of  the  Santa  ¥6  Expedition  of  1821. 
Missouri   Historical   Society   CoUections,  Vol.  II,  Nos.  6, 
66,  67. 
Fowler,  Jacob. 

Journal  narrating  an  adventure  from  Arkansas  through  the 
Indian  Territory,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  New  Mcx.co 
to  the  sources  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  1821-22.  lldited 
by  Elliott  Coues. 

Francis  P.  Harper,  1898. 

Kendall,  George  W.  „     .^.      . 

Narrative  of  an  Expedition  across  the  Great  Southwestern 

Prairies  from  Texas  to  Santa  Fi. 

New  York,  1844.    2  vols.    London,  1845. 
De  Munn,  Julius.  _ 

Letter  to  Governor  Wm.  Clark,  narrating  Chouteau  s  Santa  16 
Expedition  of  1816.    Reprinted  in  the  President's  Message  to 
Congress,  April  15,  1818. 
Pattie,  J.  0. 
Narrative  of  Adventures. 
Eariy  Western  Travels,  Vol.  XVIII. 
Warrter,  J.  J. 
Reminiscences. 
Ms.  in  Bancroft  Collection. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


391 


CHAPTl.R  IV.  — Ti:XAS 

Adams,  Andy. 
The  Log  of  a  Cowboy. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  1903. 
Austin,  Stephen  F. 
Sonie  Difficulties  of  a  Texas  Empressario. 
W'ashingt  n,  1899. 
De  Bow,  J.  D.  B. 
Industrial  Resources  of  the  Southern  and  Western  States. 
New  Orleans,  1852. 

See  index :  Texas. 

Foote,  Henry  Stuart. 
Texas  and  the  Texans.    2  vols. 
Philadelphia,  1841. 
Gregg,  Joniah. 

Commerce  of  the  Prairies,  or  the  Journal  of  a  Santa  F6  Trader, 
1831-39. 

Early  Western  Travels,  Vols.  XIX,  XX. 
Hoist,  H.  E.  von. 
Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  1828-46. 
Callaghan  &.  Co.    Cliicago,  1876-92. 
Hughes,  J.  I. 
Doniphan's  Expedition. 
Cincinnati,  1850. 
Kennedy,  Wm. 
Texas,  its  Natural  History,  Goograph\',  and  ToiMgraphy. 
New  York,  1844. 

Reprint  from  English  edition. 

Marcy,  R.  B. 

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Wichita  rivers,  1854. 

34th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  Kx.  Doc.  GO. 
Parton,  James. 
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New  York,  1864. 
Stiff,  Edward. 
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Cincinnati,  1840. 


392 


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Tyler,  Lyon  G. 

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Yoakum,  H. 
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New  York,  1856.     2  vols. 


'f-'i 


V', 

>■■!!: 


f 


PART  IV 

THE  TRANSCONTINENTAL  MIRATION 

CHAPTER  I. -THE  OREGON  TRAIL 

Annals  of  Congress : 

16th  Cong.,  2d  Scss.,  945. 
17th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  397,  590. 
18th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  I,  37,  450, 
17th  Cong.,  1st  Scss.,  I,  416. 

2d  Sess.,  246,  251. 
18th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  I,  456 
19th  Cong.,  1st  Se,ss. 


Floyd's  Bill  for  Occupation. 


Benton's  speeches. 


mv  I 


Bancroft,  H.H.  .,..,,• 

History  of  .xie  Pacific  Coast  States  of  North  America. 
Vol.  XXIX.    Oregon,  1834-48. 
San  Francisco,  1882-89. 

Bourne,  Edward  S.  <-,.•■ 

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Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1901. 

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political  object. 

Burnet,  P.  H. 
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New  York,  1880. 
CarpinUr,  Edmund  J. 
The  American  Advance,  Ch.  VI. 
John  Lane  &  Co.    London,  1903. 
Chrke,^.A. 

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Portland,  1905. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


393 


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Kept.  No.  101,  H.  of  R.,  25th  Cong.,  3d  Sess. 
Dye,  Eva  F. 

McLoughlin  and  Old  Oregon. 
A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  1900. 
Farnham,  T.  J. 

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Early  West'  '^  T 
Fremont,  J.  C. 

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1     XT,    ,..   XXIX. 


>,( 


1  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
irth   California,   1843- 


Printf  i     V  f  ■! 


^•»> 


Also 
I-  .:  Rives,  1845. 


;.lU,.r;iia. 


D.  App,>.'"u  »': 
Greenhow,  Rob,  '. 
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Boston,  1844. 
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Cincinnati,  1845. 
Holman.A.F.  S. 
Br.  John  McLoughlin. 
A.  H.  Clark  &  Co.    Cleveland,  1907. 
Howison,  Lieut.  Neil  M. 
Rept.  on  Oregon,  1847 
Washington.  1848 
Johnson,  C.  T. 
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Washington  Hi.st.  Soc.  Quart.,  Vol.  II,  :  . 

The  Flathead  delegation. 

Kellen,  Hall  J. 

A  General  Circular  to  a'i  Persons  of  Good  Character  who  wi.*h 
to  Immigrate  to  the  Oregon  Territory. 

Charlestown,  1831. 

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Upper  California, 

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394 


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ii;ii 


,  ( 


"r 


Kelley,  Hall  J. 
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Worcester,  1850. 
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1839. 

Kept.  No.  101, 25th  Cong.,  3d  Sess. 
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Oregon. 
Lang,  II.  H. 
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Influence  of  Governor  Cass  on  the  Development  of  Nortli- 

Am.  Hist.  As-s,  Vol.  Ill,  311-327. 
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n(!Mi  til  Aiiicricitiix. 


[i 


■I 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


395 


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Chicago,  1004. 
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Meany,  E.  H. 

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Nixon,  0.  W. 
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Chicago,  1895. 
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Ithaca,  1838. 
Parkman,  Francis. 
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Am.  Hi.st.  Rev.,  XIV,    77. 

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Macmillan,  11K)5.    2  vols. 


>   -5 

J 


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ii, 


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\a'\Wt  addres.sed  to  H.  of  R.  Com.  on  Fon-ign  .\ffairs. 
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ll.ill  .1    K.'llcy. 

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iVdtl,  Jitm  jih 

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397 


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War,  382.     Rec.  June  22,  1S44. 
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Karly  Western  Travels,  Vol.  XXI,   !!«).">. 
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1  In 


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404 


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Larkin,  Thos.  0.,  Papers. 
Ms.  in  Bancroft  Collection. 

Letter  to  Secrotary  Buchanan,  June  1,  1848. 

Ex.  Doc,  2d  Sess.,  30th  Cong.,  H.  R.  No.  I,  51-52. 
Royce,  Jo-^lah. 

Montgomery  and  Fremont. 
The  Century  Magazine,  N.S.,  XIX  :  780. 
I'phnm,  C.  W. 
Life,  Explorations,  and  Pubhc  Services  of  J.  C.  Fremont. 
Boston,  1856. 
Yoakum,  H. 
History  of  Texas,  in  2  vols. 
New  York,  1856. 

The  Land  Question 

Halleck,  Lieut.  H.  W. 
Rciwrt  on  California  Land  Cranta. 

H.  R.  l.\.  Doc.  17  :  118-1S2,  3lst  Cong.,  1st  Srss.,  1849. 
Jonen,  Win.  Carey. 

Land  Titles  of  California. 
Washington,  1852. 
Royce,  Jo,Hiah. 
Squatters'  Riots  of  1850. 
Overland  Monthly,  VL  225. 


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The  .\(iE  OF  Cold 

Auger,  Edmmrd. 

Voyage  en  Califomic. 
Paris,  1854. 
Bates,  .Ifr.s.  D.  R. 

Four  Years  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
Boston,  1858. 
Borlhmck,  J.  D. 
Three  Years  in  California,  '51   '.'»4. 
London,  1S57. 

Hronkx,  ./.  T. 

F(i\ir  Muntlis  among  the  Cold  Finders  in  California. 
London,  1849. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY 


405 


Buffum,  E.  Gould. 
Six  Montlis  in  the  Gold  Mines. 
Philadelplua,  1850. 
Burgess,  H. 
Anecodotcs  of  the  Minos. 
The  Century  Magazine,  N.S.,  XX  :  269. 
Carsoyi,  J.  H. 
Early  Recollections  of  the  Mines. 
Stockton,  1852. 
Delano,  A. 
Life  on  the  Prairies  and  at  the  Diggings. 
Buffalo,  1854. 
Farwell,  W.  D. 
Cape  Horn  and  Cooperative  Mining. 
The  Century  Magazine,  \.S.,  XX  :  579. 
Ferrif,  A.  C. 
Hardships  of  the  Lsthmus  in  1849. 
The  Century  Magazine,  N.S.,  XIX  :  929. 
Field,  Stephen  ./. 
Early  Day.s  in  California. 
San  Franci.sco,  1880-84. 
FoKter,  George  (1. 
Cold  Regions  of  California. 
New  York,  1848. 
GiUespie,  C.  B. 
A  Miner's  Sunday  in  California. 
Tiie  Century  Magazine,  .N..S.,  XX  :  259. 
Ilnxkiiis,  C.  W. 
The  .Argonauts  in  California. 
New  York,  1890. 
lit  I  per,  HiuUm  li. 
The  Land  of  Cold. 
Haltiniure,  1855. 
UHhU,  John  S. 
The  Discovery  of  Cold  in  ("aliforniii. 
The  Century  Magazine,  N.S.,  XIX:  5'J5. 

Mining  in  tiie  Pticilie  Stales. 

Hancroft  it  Co.,  S.  F.,  iSfil. 
ihintleii.  Sir  //.  V. 
Ciilifornia;  its  Cold  and  its  Inliahitants. 
London, 1850. 


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408 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


4! 


Johnson,  Theo.  T. 
Sights  in  the  Gold  Regions. 
New  York,  1849. 
Kelley,  WiUiam. 
An  Excursion  to  California,  1849. 
London,  1851. 
King,  G.  Butler. 

Report  on  CaUfornia. 
Washington,  1850. 
Knower,  Daniel. 
Adventures  of  a  Forty-Niner. 
Albany,  1894. 
Mariposa  Land  &  Mining  Co. 

New  York,  1876. 
Mason,  R.  B.,  and  Sherman,  W.  T. 

Rept.  on  Gold  Diggings  of  California,  Aug.  17,  '48. 
Paul,  A.  B. 

Evolution  of  the  Stamp  Mill. 
Overland  Monthly,  XXV,  522. 
Phillips,  J.  A. 
The  Mining  and  Metalling  of  Gold  and  Silver. 
Chs.  IV,  VIII,  IX. 
London,  1867. 
Riley,  {General)  Bennel. 

Rept.  on  visits  to  mining  regions.  July  and  Aug.,  1849. 
Ex.  Doc.  H.  R.  3l8t  Cong.,  Ist  Sees.,  No.  XVII,  785-786. 
Royce,  Josiah, 
The  Golden  State. 
Conmionwealth  Series.    Boston,  1886. 
Shau\  Pringle. 
Ramblings  in  California. 
Toronto,  1858. 
Shaw,  William. 
Golden  Dreams  and  Waking  Realities. 
London,  1851. 
Shinn,  C.  H. 
Mining  Camps. 
Charles  Scribncr's  Sons,  1885. 

Story  of  the  Mine. 

Appleton.     New  York,  1896. 
Deals  especially  with  the  Cuiustuck  Lode. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY  407 

Shirley  Letters. 

Printed  in  Ewer's  Pioneers,  1854-55. 
Simpson,  H.  S. 
Three  Weeks  in  the  Gold  Mines. 
New  York,  1848. 
Stillmxin,  J.  D.  B. 
Seeking  the  Golden  Fleece. 
San  Francisco  and  New  York,  1877. 

Based  on  Stillman's  letters  home  and  articles  published  in  the  Overland 
Monthly. 

Taylor,  Bayard. 
El  Dorado. 
London,  1850. 

Letters  to  New  York  Tribune  by  an  enthusiastic  observer,  1849. 

Tyson,  James  L. 
Diary  of  a  Physician  in  California. 
New  York,  1850. 
Tyson,  Philip  T. 
Geology  and  Industrial  Resources  of  California. 
Baltimore,  1851. 
Upham,  Samuel  C. 

Notes  of  \'oyage  to  California  via  Cape  Horn  together  with 
Scenes  in  El  Dorado. 

Philadelpliia,  1878. 
'Vnite,  E.  G. 
Pioneer  Mining  in  California. 
The  Century  Magazine,  N.S.,  XX:  127. 
Wierzhicki,  F.  P. 

California  as  It  is,  and  as  It  may  be,  or  a  Guide  to  the  Gold 
Regions. 

Sun  Francisco,  1849. 

A  rare  book,  the  first  English  work  printed  in  CiilifDrnia, 

Willcy,  S.  II. 
Thirty  Years  in  California. 
San  Francisco,  1879. 
Woods,  Dniiirl  li. 
Sixdrn  Moiiilis  in  tiic  tioid  Diggings. 
New  York,  1851. 


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408 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ii     1  ' 

lit      ;•■    f 


Normal  Industries 

Coolidge,  Mary  Roberts. 
Chinese  Immigration. 
Holt,  1909. 
Crane,  J.  M. 
Past,  Present,  and  Future  of  the  Pacific. 
San  Francisco,  1856. 
Cronise,  S.  F. 

Natural  Wealth  of  California. 
San  Francisco,  1868. 
Davis,  Horace. 
California  Breadstuff s. 
Journal  Pol.  Econ.,  II,  517. 
Eaves,  Lucilc. 

Labor  Legislation  in  California. 
The  University  Press,  Berkeley,  1910. 
Gwinn,  J.  M. 

Early  California  Industries  that  failed. 
Out  West,  XXVIII,  66. 
Hall,  W.  H. 

Report  on  Irrigation  Development  in  France,  Italy,  Spain, 
California. 

Sacramento,  1886. 
Hnlladie,  A.S. 

Dissertation  on  the  Resources  and  Policv  of  California. 
OverlamI  Monthly,  N.S.,  XI  :  036-643. 
Hassc,  A.  R. 

Index  of  Economic  Material  in  Documents  of  the  States  of 
the  United  States,  Ciilifornia,   1S49-HMW. 

Pul)Hshed  i)y  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington,  1908. 
Dept.  of  Ilconomics  and  Sociology. 
Hlttfll,  J.  S. 
(  ornmerce  and  Industries  of  (he  Pacific  Slope. 
Bancroft  &  Co.     San  Francisco,  1882. 

Resources  of  California,  1867. 

San  Francisco,  1879. 
Plrhn.  Carl. 

Lahor  in  California. 

Yale  Review,  IfsOo.  4(M. 
W'uKt'8  iu  Califi)ruia,  lS4t>-70. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


409 


Scanland,  J.  M. 
Evolution  of  Ship  Building  in  California. 
Overland  Monthly,  XXV,  5-16. 
Seyd,  Ernest. 
California  and  its  Resources. 
London,  1858. 
Werth,  John  J. 
Dissertations  on  the  Resources  and  Policy  of  California,  1852. 

PART  V 

KEYSTONE   OF  THE  ARCH 

CHAPTER  L  — THE  GREAT  PLAIXS 

Bowles,  Samuel. 
Across  the  Continent. 
Springfield,  1865. 
BnynU)n,  C.  B.,  and  Mason,  T.  B. 
A  Journey  through  Kansas. 
Cincinnati,  1855. 
Dodge,  {Colonel)  Henry. 
Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  1835. 
Rept.  Secretary  of  War,  1835. 
HaU,  L.  H. 
The  Great  West. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.     New  York,  1866 

Railroad,  stoamboat,  and  stacc  Kuidc  for  travellers,  niinrrs,  and  rm- 
iRrants.     Excellent  map  of  road.s  (  tnnertiiiK  with  niihvays  at  St.  Joscijh, 
Kansaa  City,  and  Des  Moinoe,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Louis. 
James,  Edwin. 

Long's  (S.  H.)  Expedition  (1819-20)  to  Iho  Rocky  Mountains. 
Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels,  Vols.  XIV,  XV,  XVI,  XVII. 
Majors,  Alexander. 
Seventy  Years  on  the  Fronfior. 

New  York,  189.1. 
By  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Russell,  Majors  A  Waddell. 
OhnMed,  F.  L. 

Journey  through  Texas  ;  or  u  Saddle  Trip  on  the  Southwestern 
Frontifr. 

New  York,  1857. 


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410 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ri  ' 


Parker,  N.  H. 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  Handbook. 

Boston,  1857-58. 
A  well  edited  guide. 

Parrish,  Randall. 
The  Great  Plains. 
A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.    Chicago,  1907. 
Paxon,  Frederic  L. 
The  Last  American  Frontier. 
The  Macmillan  Company,  1910. 


■'*¥    I'i 


CHAPTER  II.  — STRUGGLE  FOR  POSSESSION 

Blackmar,  F.  W. 
Life  of  Charles  Robinson. 
Toi.3ka,  1902. 
Brown,  G.  W. 
Reminiscences  of  John  Brown  in  Kansas. 
Rockford,  lU.,  printed  by  A.  E.  Smith,  1880. 
De  Bow,  J.  D.  B. 
Industrial  Resources  of  the  Southern  and  Western  States. 

New  Orleans,  1852. 
See  index  :  Negro  Slavery. 

Doy,  John. 

Narrative. 

A  plain,  unvarnished  tale  of  the  experiences  of  a  Lawrence  settler 
of  1855. 

New  York,  1860. 
Gladstone,  G.  H. 
An  Englishman  in  Kansas. 

With  introduction  by  F.  L.  Olmsted. 
New  York,  1857. 
Greeley,  Horace, 
Slavery  Extension  in  the  United  States.>i 
New  York,  1S.')0. 
Hale,  Edward  Everett. 
Kiuisua  and  Nibrooka. 
Boston,  1854. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY 


411 


Higginson,  T.  W. 
A  Ride  through  Kansas. 
Boston,  1856. 
Hoist,  H.  F.  von. 
Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States. 
Callaghan.    Chicago,  1876-92. 
Vols.  V,  VI,  VII.    Kansas. 

John  Brown,  Boston,  1889. 

Johnson,  Allen. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas. 
Macmillan,  1908. 
Miller,  W.  E. 
The  Peopling  of  Kansas. 
Doctor's  thesis,  Columbia  University. 
Columbus,  Ohio,  1906. 
McLaughlin,  A.  C. 
Lewis  Cass. 
Boston,  1891.    American  Statesmen  Series. 
Philips,  Wm.  A. 
Conquest  of  Kansas  by  Missouri  and  her  allies. 
Boston,  1856. 
Robinson,  Charles. 
The  Kansas  Conflict. 
Harper  &  Bros.,  1892. 
Robinson,  Mrs.  Sam  T.  L. 
Kansas :  Its  Interior  and  Exterior  Life. 
Boston,  1856. 
Rhodes,  James  F. 
History  of  the  Unitetl  States  from  tlio  Compromise  of  1S50. 
New  York,  1893. 
Sanborn,  Franklin  B. 

The  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Brown,  the  Liberator  of  Kansas 
and  the  Martyr  of  Virginia. 

Boston,  1885. 
Spring,  L.  W. 
Kansas:  Prelude  to  the  War  for  the  Union. 
Boston,  1885. 
Thayer,  Eli. 
The  Kansas  Crusade. 
Harper  Bros.,  1SS9. 

The  New  England  Emigrant  Aid  Company. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  1S87. 


!  I   I 


412 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ft  i4  I    I 


Villard,  0.  G. 

John  Brown. 
Houghton  &  Mifflin,  1910. 
Webb,  J.  H. 

Information  for  Kansas  Immigrants. 
Boston,  1856. 

Prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  New  England  Emigrant  Aid 
Company. 
Williams,  R.  H. 

With  the  Border  Ruffians,  1852-68. 


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CHAPTER  III.  — THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  NORTH 

Bancroft,  H.  H. 

History  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America,  Vol.  XXIV, 
Chs.  XIX,  XX,  XXI.    Pacific  Railways. 
Blake,  Wm.  P. 

Geological  Report  on  Routes  in  California  to  connect  with 
Routes  near  the  Tiiirty-fifth  and  Tliirty-second  Parallel. 

War  Department.    Washington,  1856. 
Carter,  C.  F. 
When  Railroads  were  New. 
Holt  &  Co.    New  York,  1909. 
Congressional  Globe  Debates  on  Homestead  BiU. 
1850.     1449,  1457,  1461. 
1853-.54.     Pt.  I,  553,  555. 
1854.    Pt.  II,  1125-28,  1717-26. 

Appendix,  207-209. 
1861-62.     40,  132,  139,  909-910. 
Davis,  I.  P. 
The  Union  Pacific  Railway. 
S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.    Chicago,  1894. 
De  Bow,  J.  D.  B. 

Industrial  Resources  of  the  Southe-n  and  Western  States. 
\cw  Orleans,  1852. 

St"  Index :  Railroads. 

Emimi,  Major  W.  H. 

Military  Rcconnoissance  from  Ft.  Leavenworth  to  San  Diego 
via  the  Rio  Grande  and  Gila  rivers,  1846-47. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY 


413 


Greeley,  Horace. 
Overlaiid  Journey,  1859. 

New  York,  1860. 
Guidebook  of  the  Pacific.  \ 

San  Francisco,  1866. 

Contains  time  and  distance  tables,  fares,  freight  rates  of  all  steamship, 
railway,  stage,  and  express  lines  connecting  the  Pacific  Coast  with  the  in- 
terior. 

Hall,  Edward  H. 
The  Great  West. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1865. 
Harding,  S.  C. 
George  B.  Smith,  Founder  of  Sedaha,  Missouri. 
Sedalia,  1907. 
Heap,  G.  H. 

Central  Route  to  the  Pacific  —  Journal  of  Scale's  Expedition 
of  1853. 

Philadelphia,  1854. 
Hittell,  T.  H. 
History  of  California. 

Vol.  IV,  Chs.  V,  VI.    Pacific  Railroads, 

Lumtnis,  C.  F. 
Pioneer  Transportation  in  America. 
McCIurc's  Magazine,  1905. 
Marcy,  R.  B. 
The  Prairie  Traveller. 
Harper,  1859. 

Route  from  Ft.  Smith  to  San  Diego,  1852. 

MoUhauser,  B. 
Diary  of  a  Journey  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific. 
London,  1858. 
Paxson,  F.  L. 

The  Pacific  Railroads  and  the  Disappearance  of  the  Frontier 
in  America. 

Am.  Hist.  Ass.  Rcpt.,  1907. 
Powell,  J.  W. 
Rep.  on  the  Lands  of  the  Arid  Region. 
Washington,  1878. 

Map  of  Railway  Grant*. 


414 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


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Repts.  of  Explorations  and  Surveys  to  ascertain  the  most  practi- 
cable and  economical  route  for  a  Railroad  from  the  Mississippi 
River  to  the  Pacific  Coast.    Lieut.  G.  K.  Warren.    U.S.  Topo- 
graphical Survey. 
Washington,  1861. 
Roe,  W.  F. 
Westward  by  Rail,  1869. 
London,  1871. 
Root,  Frank  A.,  and  Connelleij,  W.  E. 
Overland  Stage  to  California. 
Published  by  the  authors.    Topeka,  Kan.,  1901. 
Rushing,  J.  F. 
Across  America. 
New  York,  1874. 
Sanborn,  J.  B. 
Congressional  Grants  of  Land  in  Aid  of  Railways,  Chs.  V.  VI, 

vn,  VIII. 

University  of  Wisconsin,  Bulletin  No.  30. 
Simpson,  J.  H. 
Explorations,  1859. 
Washington,  Government  printing  office,  1876. 
Stimson,  A.  L. 
History  of  the  Express  Company. 
New  York,  1858.    Published  and  sold  by  Adams  Express 
Companies. 
Visscher,  W.  L. 
The  Pony  Express. 

Rand,  McNally.    Chicago,  1908. 
Whitney,  Asa. 

Project  for  a  Pacific  Railway,  May,  1849. 
Young,  F.  C. 
Across  the  Plains  in  '65. 
Denver,  1905. 


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INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Lord,  II.  223-224. 

Abernethy,  governor  of  Oregon,  II,  10.5. 

Abolitioniata  in  Kansas,  II,  347,  34^- 
349. 

Acadiana  aettled  along  Miaaissippi  River, 
II,  3-4. 

Account  of  Louisiana  (1803),  compila- 
tion of,  II,  3 ;  cited  and  quoted, 
11,3-7. 

Aceguia  madre,  mother  ditcb,  I,  01,  02, 
134. 

Aroma,  Indians  of,  I,  33. 

Arorns,  uaed  aa  food,  I,  122. 

Acreage  charge  on  .Xustin's  Texas 
landa,  II,  'JO. 

Adair,  General  John,  I,  110. 

Adams,  .VIvin.  II,  2S7. 

Adams  and  Company's  Express,  failure 
of,  II,  287. 

Adama  Express  Company,  II,  2il0. 

Adama  Point.  I,  210. 

Adobe  (sun-dried  brick)  houses  of,  I. 
50,  9D ;  houses,  bricks,  and  walls  of, 
made  by  mission  Indians,  I,  138, 
149;  villages  of,  built  by  Mormons, 
II,  202;  superseded  by  wood  in 
California  houses,  II,  309. 

Adtenture,  aloop  built  by  Captain  Gray, 

I,  21.5. 

Agricultural  implements,  manufacture 
of,  in  California,  II,  311. 

Agriculture,  practice  of,  among  native 
Indians  of  \cw  Mexico,  I,  30;  in 
Mexico  as  described  by  I'ike,  I,  53; 
primitive  state  of,  in  New  Mexico  in 
1829,  I,  00-02;  introduced  amonu 
Tsxas  Indiana  by  Franciscans,  I,  W)- 
100;  in  California  colonies,  I,  133  ff. ; 
at  missions,  I,  148  B. ;  on  lower  Mis- 
sissippi, II,  5,  6,  19;   along  Red  River, 

II,  S-9  ;  of  Arkansas  Valley,  II,  30-31  : 
primitive  processes  of  Mexican,  noted 
by  J.  O.  Pattie,  II,  90-91 ;  advnntages 
of,  in  Texas,  II,  103-104:  of  the 
Mormons,  II,  173-174,  181,  103; 
neglect  of,  by  .Americans  in  California, 
II,  219;  Mexican,  in  California,  II, 
240;  land-title  dispute  in  California 
acts  as  check  on.  II.  2.53-254  :  survey 
of  proaress  in.  and  prosf>eets  of.  in 
California,  II,  291-300;  drawbacks 
to  profitable  pursuit  of,  under  slavery, 
II,  324-331  :  po.ssibilitiea  for,  in 
Kansaa,  II,  ;,39-341,  351-352. 


Agwijea,  water  holes,  I,  128. 

.Alamo,  mas.sacre  of  the,  II,  99. 

Alarcon,  Hernando  de,  I,  17. 

Alaska,  BehrinKS  fleet  visits,  I,  195- 
190;  Russian  fur  trappers  and  ad- 
venturers in,  I,  l'.»0-2l)l' ;  .Spanish 
explorers  reach,  I,  200-207  ;  Captain 
Crook's  voyage  to,  I,  208-209. 

.Albany,  N.Y..  emigrant  aid  company 
organized  in,  II,  337. 

Albany  River,  I,  293. 

Albatross,  .American  vessel  on  Cali- 
fornia coast,  I,  100,  328. 

Albuquerque,  .\..M.,  I,  .38,  50;    II,  244. 

Alcalde  mayor,  superior,  governor,  40,  41. 

Alcaldes,  mayors  (of  towns),  I,  40,  41, 
42,  01,  99,  138,  1.59. 

Aleutian  Islands.  Russian  fur  traders 
in,  I,  11 '.I;    Behring's  voyage  among, 

I,  195-190;  development  of  se:i- 
otter  industry  among,  I.  190-197; 
harsh  treatment  of  imtives  of,  by 
Ru.ssian  adventurers,  I,  198-199; 
Cook's  voyage  among,  I,  209;  Rus- 
sian-American Fur  Conii)any's  people 
withdrawn  from  California  to  (1841), 

II,  222. 

-Alexander,  first  California  tanner,  I,  214. 
Alexander  VI,  Pope,  I,  29. 
-Mexandria,  La.,  II,  25. 
Alexandria,    .American    vessel    roughly 

treated  at  .San  Diego  (1803),  I,  159. 
Alfalfa,  II,  302. 

Alfderia,  a  forage-plant,  1, 185;  II,  294. 
.Algomiuin  Indians,  1,  222. 
Alleiicaster,  Spaniah  governor  in  Mexico, 

I,  49,  51. 

Almonte,  Don  Juan,  II,  UX);  Texan 
colonization  project  of,  II,   101. 

.Alsatians  in  Louisiana,  I,  .87. 

.Alum,  in  Mis,souri  Territfiry,  II.  ,51. 

Alvarado,  revolutionary  leader  in  C'ali- 
fornia,  I,  171-172;  efforts  of.  as 
governor  under  Mexico,  to  conserve 
results  of  California  missions.  I,  178; 
personal  profit  to,  from  seculariza- 
tion of  missions.  I.  Isl  ;  persecution 
of  .American  settlers  in  California  by, 

II,  218. 

.American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science.  Colonel  Emory's 
HdHreas  tn,  IT  .332-333. 

.American  Fork,  .Sacrfiniento  River,  I, 
301;  Sutter's  post  on  the,  11,  21.5- 
210,  2'23,  233;  discovery  of  gold  on, 
II,  255-256. 


VOL.   II  —  2e 


417 


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1  I ' 


418 


INDEX 


American  Fur  Company,  I,  308,  347; 
orKuniiation  by  J.J.  Astor  of  We.>!ti'rn 
Department  of,  I,  348-349;  mothoda 
pursued  by,  in  conducting  Western 
fur  trade,  I,  350-35.5;  drives  Rocky 
Mountain  Fur  Company  from  the 
field,  I,  304 ;  annual  production  of 
beaver  skin,  bufTiilo  hides,  and  furs, 
I.  .'fftS  ;  fullins  off  in  receipts  of,  and 
inti-rest  in  .^old  out  by  Aator,  I,  30.H; 
nK'ntioncd,  II.  121. 

American  Philosophical  Society,  ex- 
ploring expedition  financed  by,  I, 
234. 

American  Society  for  the  Settlement  of 
Origon  Territory,  II,  115-1 IH. 

Americans,  trading  and  exploring  ex- 
peditions    of,     to     northwest     coa.-t. 

I.  211-221;  overland  search  for 
Western  Sea  by,  I,  231-2S1 ;  policy 
of,  concerning  the  fur  trade,  I,  2it.s- 
299;  history  of  fur-trading  activities 
of,  after  War  of  ISI2.  I.  341-3()C,;  in 
New  Orleans  (1799),  II,  3;  land 
grants  to,  in  Texas,  II,  94-90;  at- 
tention of,  attractoil  ti  Oregon 
country,  II,  114  fT. ;  emicration  of, 
to  Oregon,  II,  154-It)l  ;  the  first,  to 
settle  in  California,  II,  207;  route 
between  California  and  Santa  1'6 
opened  by,  II,  211-214;  number  of. 
in  California  in  1H41,  11,  219;  Santa 
Anna's  attempts  to  exclude,  from 
California,  II.  232,  240-241;  num- 
ber in  California  in  lS4tl.  II,  241. 

Anaheim,     grape-raising     industry     at. 

II.  301. 

Andrew.  Solomon  I'..  I,  3,50. 

Anian.  Straits  ^if,  I.  204 

/t«i(ii,  Inili'd  Slates  ship  in  California 

(leserteii  by  her  crew,  II.  257. 
AmiexatioM  of    Texas,   II,   107-109. 
,\ns,»n.   Admiral  (leorge,   I,  US. 
Anli|i.|,e,  II,  231). 
Anli-foreitni    fe<'ling    in    California    goM 

diKKiiigs.  II,  2S2  2N3. 
.Antonio  de    la   Ascension,   chronicler  of 

\'izcain<»'s  enterprise.  I,  i;i. 
Ania,    Juan    de    Maulista.    Spanish    ex- 
plorer of  California.   I.   lJt»   132. 
Apache  Inilians,  raids  on  New  Mexii'aiis 

by.  I,  42.  41,  05;    II.  '10.  91,  92,  212; 

bounty  olfcriMl  for  scalps  of,  I,  (»5. 
Appalusit,  1 1.  7. 
Applev,  in  California.  II,  303. 
.\prirols.  California.  II.  .i0.1. 
Araiiaho    Indians,    I,   ;(4i  :     attacks   by, 

ou  Santa  I>  traders,  II.  ,M . 
Arctic   Ocean,    Hehriiig's   cruise    in    the. 

I,    195-190;    Cook's   visit   to   the,    I. 

2of<-209. 
Ar.iirnl',  alcoliollc  liipior,  I,  105, 
Ar^iiello,     .I(»s(^,     <i>m"i<tiutantf    at    ,^an 

Frituciscu  Uuy,  1,  15». 


of 


II, 


Argucllo,  Luis,  Mexican  governor  of 
California,  1,  101-163;  hospitality 
of,  leads  to  settlement  by  Americans 
in  California,  »I,  207. 

Aricara  Indians,  I,  ,'J07,  341 ;  3  "ti, 
305 ;  military  expedition  sent  against, 
1.312-343. 

Arizona.  I,  0. 

Arkans.is,  emigrants  from,  to  Oregon, 
II,  157;  proportion  of  colored  to 
white  population  in  18.50,  II,  324. 

Arkansas  Post,  I,  299;    II,  4,  28,  35. 

Arkansas  River,  Tonti's  trip  up,  I,  80; 
navigability  of,  II,  27;  settlen-'Uts 
along,  II,  29-30;  impros-eme. 
navigation  on,  II,  01. 

Arkansas  Territory,  II,  .32.  3j-35. 

Arraijo,    governor    of    Chihuahua, 
SO.  242,  243. 

Armstrong,  Captain  John,  I,  234. 

.4rrrif/rn,  raining  implement,  II,  '204. 

Arrieros,  mule-drivers,  I,  40. 

Arpent,  equivalent  of  acre,  I,  88. 

Arroyo  Hondo,  I,  111. 

Ashhurton  Trcatv,  II,  102, 

Ashley,  General  W.  H.,  I.  343;  11,  171  ; 
prime  mover  in  forming  Ro<kv 
.Mountain  Fur  Company,  I,  ;),"i5, 
3,57.  3,")S;  reaps  the  profits  of  Rod, v 
.Mountain  Fur  Company,  I,  3I.I- 
305 ;  residence  of,  in  St.  Louis.  1 1 . 
04. 

Ashley  (.Sevier)    Lake,  I,  3.57,  305. 

.Asphalt  springs,   Los  Angeles,   II, 
289 

Aspinwall,  William  II.,  II,  202. 

Assiniboin    Indians.    I,    224,    253, 
297.  300.  349,  3,50. 

A.ssiniboin  River,  I.  290. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  I,  303;  operations 
of,  in  the  western  fur  trade,  I,  307- 
308;  plans  of,  lr)r  tran.sconlinem  il 
and  trans-Pacific  trade  route,  1, 
30S;  Pai-ifie  liir  ( 'oiiipany  organ- 
ized and  capitalized  by,  I.  ;!0^i ; 
misadventures  and  eventual  failiiri- 
of  I'acilic  Conipaiiv  project,  I,  310- 
329;  statcsinanllkc  and  practuMM" 
character  <if  plan  of.  I,  330;  si' mi  ^ 
legislation  prohibiting  foreigners  Umih 
trailing  with  Indians  within  boiinil- 
arics  of  liiited  Stall's,  I,  311;  aitiM' 
hostility  of.  toward  the  governnieiit 
trading  houses,  I.  315;  iHTsists  jii 
invasion  of  Missouri  (ur  tiiritirv 
and  establishes  branch  of  -Vnu  ri.  an 
Fur  Comi>anv  at  St,  Louis.  I,  .if- 
349;  methods  employed  by,  to  iiisiiie 
success  of  his  fiir-triiding  enterprises, 
I,  351-:t55;  at  close  of  protitalile 
p,  rl,i,i  .-,1  fur  trade  sells  u-jl  (i-''4- 
35),  I.  308. 
.Xsti.ria.  choiif  of  site  of.  by  I'acitic 
Fur  Coiiipuuy's  party.   I,  310;    laud 


221). 


2.">t., 


INDEX 


419 


cleared  and  fort  built  at,  I,  312-313; 
North  West  Company's  representa- 
tive at,  I,  313-314;  Pacifie  Com- 
pany's overland  party  reaches,  I, 
322-323;  secured  by  the  North 
West  Company,  I,  32t)-;J2.S;  Antor's 
futile  attempt  to  rpsain,  I,  331-.).'i2; 
called  Fort  George  by  British  fur 
companies,  I,  334. 

Attoria,  Irving's,  cited,  I,  35S;   II.  161. 

Atchinson,  D.  O.,  II,  .MO. 

Atkinson,  Colonel  Henry.  I,  .342. 

Auger,  Kdouftnl,  cit(-il.  II,  2S3. 

Aurifire,  French  emiKration  company, 
II,  263. 

Austin,  Moses,  league  of  land  acquired 
by,  in  Missinuri,  II.  .51  ;  mining  nmt 
shot-manufacturing  by.  II,  .52-.")3 ; 
projects  in  Texas  thwarted  by  his 
death,  II,  94-95. 

Austin,  Stephen,  colony  started  by,  in 
Texas,  II,  41,  9,5-90,  98,  104. 

Australian  gum  trees  introduced  int() 
California,  II,  310. 

Australian  mines  (1S.52),  11,  2S7. 

Avacha  Hay,  Uehring's  expedition  at, 
I,  194. 

Avoyelles,  village  of,  II,  4. 

Ayres,  Captain  U.  W.,  I,  160. 

Altec  Indians,  I,  6. 

B 

Bacon,    Lord,    quoted    on    character   of 

American  colonists,  I,  114-14.5. 
Btihia   de   /«.■<    Pinoa,    Cahrillo's,    I,    10; 

name<l  Monterey,  I,  14. 
Baker,   .Mt..  discovereil  and   named  by 

Vancouver.  I,  2IS. 
Baker's  Landing,  II,  9. 
Balboa,   isthmian   canal   propo.sition  of, 

I,  8. 
Bnl.sn.i,  Indian  rafts,  I,  120. 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Canal,  impetus  to 

emigration  from  oponina  of,  II.  00. 
Bank  of  Louisiana  fouiidcd,  II,  10. 
Bank  of  St.  I.ouis,  fniUin-  of,  II,  45,  91. 
Bankru;)lci(>s  in  .San    I'raiicisco  in   lh.54 

and  IH.5.5.  II,  2S0  2S7. 
Baranof,    Hiis.»iiiM    govi  rmir    in    Alaska, 

I,    2(M);     eslahlivhcs    p.i^t    lit    Modcga 

Bay,  I,  201  ;    A.stor's  lr:icliiii;  arrange- 
ment with,  I,  30S. 
Barley,     raising    of,     in    California,     II, 

290,  299. 
Barllesiin,       Missourian      t-rtiiirratit      to 

California.  II.  2.'X. 
Bastrop,    Bar.in    dc,    I.    lO'i;     I  iiirl   held 

by  estate  of,   on    Wasliii;i    Uivcr,   II, 

29. 
Bates,  riias.  II.  .51 
Itat'iii  Itoiige,  Arailiatis  at,  II,  .11. 
Battle  llivcr,  I,  2S0 
Bay  .Sugar  Helining  Company,  II,  313. 


Bean,  Ellis  P.,  I,  107-108. 

Beans,  raised  by  Indians  of  New  Mexico, 
I,  .36. 

Beard,  trader  to  .Santa  F6,  II,  76. 

Bear  Flag  Republic,  II,  210  247. 

Hear  Lake,  I,  3.57. 

Bear  Hiver,  I,  331,  3.5S ;  II,  143,  228, 
234;   gold  digging-  on,  II,  259. 

Bear  Valley,  II,  173, 

Bears,  I,  70. 

Beaujeu,  Captain,  I,  71. 

Heaver,  in  Mississippi  Valley,  I,  70; 
on  rivers  of  New  .Mexico.  I,  89  90, 
92;  noted  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  in 
valley  of  the  Missouri,  I,  257;  trailo 
in,  by  North  West  Company  in  .Min- 
nesota, I,  2S4 ;  (bundancj  of,  in 
Louisiana  Territory,  I,  ,'jO() :  trade  in, 
on  the  C'oluml)ia  River,  I,  31,5;  prices 
paid  for  skins  of,  by  American  Fur 
Company,  I,  3.53;  exhaustion  of, 
by  1H40,  I,  300;  taken  in  California, 
li,  20S,  210-211. 

limvrr,  vessel  of  Pacific  Fur  Company, 
I,  323,  324,  ;{27,  331. 

Beaverhead  River,  I,  205. 

Beaver  skin  trade  with  California  under 
Mexican  r\ilc,  I,  103. 

Hecknell,  William,  II,  7S. 

Herkwith,  cited,  II,  3.58,  359. 

Beechers,  the.  II,  330. 

Beechey,  Captain,  visit  to  San  Francisco 
Bay  in  IsiiO,  I.  160. 

Bee  industry  in  California,  II,  305. 

Beers,  Oregon  siltler.  II.  165. 

Beet-sugar,  II,  IM,  313. 

Beggs  &  Co.,  iirm  of.  I.  163. 

Hehring,  Vitus,  1,  119;    explorations  of. 

I,  193-190;    death  of,  I.  190. 
Behring   .strait,    ^o   named    by    Captain 

Cook.  I.  2119. 

Belcher,  .Sir  Kdwar.l,  I,  I79-1S0. 

Belle  Fontaine,  government  trading 
post  at.  I.  299. 

Bellevue  I'mrit,  I,  .331. 

Bell-foundry,  Sitka.  I,  203. 

Heltran,  Hiriiardino.  Franciscan  mis- 
sionary, I.  .31)  31. 

Beniria,  II,  270;  sliipyanls  at,  II, 
310. 

Benton,  Thomas  II.,  I,  315;  ilominaiit 
figure  in  destiny  of  Far  West  (ls2il- 
.50),  II,  69;  activities  of,  in  abolition 
(pf  governniciit  (arlortes.  iinpriKc- 
tiM-iit  in  s\  slf'in  of  l.itid  grants,  ifie 
"lit  monopolM's.  and  slaviTy  nuc'Slion, 

II,  70-74  ;  Thirtu  IVnrs'  Vi,  ii-  In. 
•luoted,  II.  71.  lOl-ni;;;  sr.un-i 
Federal  appropriatirin  for  survc\-  of 
mail  fnim  Franklin  to  Santa  I''', 
n,  SO;  nnposition  of.  to  surretidi-r 
of  I'nited  .states  rl.iiiiis  to  Texas 
(1819),  II,  94,  on  California  land 
titles,     II,     252;      op|>osition    of,     lu 


420 


INDEX 


'W 


breaking    of    Miagouri    Compromise, 

II,  335 ;   quoted  on  disposal  of  public 

lands,  II,  361. 
Bernalillo,  II,  244. 
Betsey,  American  vessel,  puts  into  San 

Diego,  I,  l'>9. 
Bidarkas,      akin      boats     of     Aloutiiin 

Islanders,  I,  199. 
Biddle,  Nicholas,  I,  232;    11,  114. 
Bidwell,  John,  II,  228,  202,  290. 
Bienville,    French    explorer    and    colo- 
nizer, I,  81,  82,  87. 
Bigdry  River,  I,  2.'>S. 
Big  Hole  River,  I,  264,  279. 
Big  Horn  .Mountains.  I,  224,  320. 
Big  Horn  River,  I,  349;   II,  121. 
Big  Prairie,  II,  27. 
Big  River,  II,  .50. 
Big  Sandy  River,  II,  172. 
Bill  Williams  Creek,  II,  214. 
Biloxi,  French  settlement  at,  I,  81. 
Bismarck,    N.D.,    I.ewis   and    Clark    at 

later  site  of,  I,  247. 
Bitter  Root  River,  I,  268. 
Bitter  Root  Valley,  11.  147. 
Blackfect    Indians,     1,    .S07,    344,    349, 

.3.56,  364,  36.5,  373;    11.  120. 
Black    Fork    of    Green    River,    I,    375; 

II,  172. 
Black  Hills,  I,  320. 
Black  River,  II,  11,  27;   French  villages 

on,  II,  4. 
Blanco,  Florida,  I,  5. 
Blonsom,  Captain  Beechey's  ship,  I,  166. 
Blue-joint  grass,  II,  328. 
Blue  Mountains,  I,  340;    II,   143,   155, 

1.56. 
Bodega   Bay,    Russian   fur-trading   post 

at,    I,   201,    203;     mills   built   at,    by 

Americans,    II,    210;     withdrawal    of 

Russians  from,  II,  222. 
Bodega    y   Quadra,   explorations    of,    I, 

206-207  ;   Vancouver  meets,  in  .'tViotka 

Sound,  1,211. 
"Boranza  kings,"  II.  288, 
Bonneville,  Caiitain.  I,  363;    II,   121. 
Boone,  Daniel.  I.  302;    II,  36,  40. 
Boone's  Lick.  II,  .W.  U, 
B<H>t    and   shoe    manufactures,    II.  ISO, 

312. 
Borax,  production  of,  in  Califr>rni«.  II. 

311    312. 
"Border  ruffians  '  11,  346. 
Bor^,  Ktirnnr  <lr.  I,  S!». 
Boricji,    Cifivcrtior,    founrling    nf    pnrhtu 

of  liraiicifurle  li.v,  I,  I'iH    130,    Ht.itcH- 

niiirilikc  aclmlnintrntion   of  ('«lil'irol:i 

bv,  I,  130   140. 
P.irlhwifk,  cited,  11.  283. 
Bo.iton.    ships    from,    triidr    with    Ciili- 

ftifnin    •.iiiTjrr    .VIrs:--.-tn    Txv.r .    i,     :*'2- 

li\:,.    212    ff..     210  22l  ;      KUpport     c.f 

Thiyr''!       "  Kmo"!"      '"rusado"      by 

buaiueos  men  of,  II,  3JU. 


Boidon,  ship  captured  by  Coast  Indians, 

I,  221. 

"Bostons,"  white  men  called,  by  In- 
dians of  northwest  coast,  I,  220;  II, 
126. 

Bounty  lands,  I.  238,  282;  II,  10,5, 
3.34. 

Bowles,  Samuel,  Arrosa  the  Continent 
by,  quoted,  II,  351-352,  357,  .350. 

Boynton,  commissioner  of  Kaiis.as 
I,«ague  of  Cincinnati,  II,  3.39-34. i. 

Brackcnridge,  Journal  of,  quoted,  I, 
.'!04-.30.5,  318;  cited,  II,  .36;  reports 
Great  Plains  as  unsuited  to  settlement, 

II,  .332. 

Bradbury,  English  naturalist,  I,  92-03, 
355;  II,  104;  description  of  Danir' 
Boone  by,  11,36. 

Branciforte,    colony    of,    in    California, 

I,  138-139;    II,  220-221. 
Brannan,    Samuel,     II,    204-205,    2.56, 

250. 
Branscomb,  Charles  H.,  II,  337,  .3.38, 
Bravo  del  Norte,  Rio,  I,  31,  32;    num- 
ber  of   Spanish   along   the,   in    I'WO, 
1,37. 
Braios,    population   of   department   of, 

II,  101. 

Brazos  River,  I,  23;   II,  41,  95. 

Brevel,  French  informant  of  Dr. 
Sibley's,  II,  10. 

Breweries,  in  St.  I^uis,  II,  65;  in  Cali- 
fornia, II,  312. 

Bricks,  made  by  mission  Indians,  I, 
149 ;  manufacture  of,  in  California, 
II,  309-310;  sun-dried,  in  Kansas, 
II,  .339. 

Bridger,  James,  I,  356,  362,  365,  .368; 
Fort  Bridger  built  by,  I,  374-37.5; 
II,  159;  advice  of,  to  Mormons,  II, 
173. 

British,  freebooting  voyages  of,  I,  12- 
13;  explorations  of  northwest  coast 
by.  I,  207-209,  216-217;  encroarh- 
inents  of,  on  fur  country  of  .Spanish 
in  Ixjuisiana  Territory,  I,  291 ;  policy 
of,  as  to  fur  trade.  I,  291-202  Ufe 
Hudson's  fJa.v  Compan.v) ;  citizens' 
papers  taken  out  by,  in  Oregnn, 
II,  164;  Mormon  converts  serurc<l 
amon;;,  11,  18,5-186;  number  of,  in 
Californiii  in  1841,  II,  210;  riucslinn 
iif  acquisition  of  California  bv,  11. 
223-224 ;  number  in  California  in 
18tfi,  II,  241  ;  emigration  of,  to 
('HJifornia  upon  discovery  of  gol<l,  M, 
263. 

lironklyn.  Mormon  emigrants  on  the, 
II,  201,  20.5, 

UrDoks,  Tyrwhitt,  II,  272. 

I'r-?*.IC::I'^::.  V:tnruuvrf 'n  ::r:i*rna::t .  rij'- 
veys  Columbia  River,  I.  218-219, 

Urowo,  ConrrcHHamn.  11.  'M\2, 

Uruwu,  Dr,  Williuiu,  i,  23.1. 


f—iSPBW 


"ii'rl.'Sr?^  i'--'  "-i^-' 


INDEX 


421 


Brown,  John,  in  Kansas,  II,  348-349. 
Brown,     Mormon     settler     on     Weber 

River,  II,  194. 
Bryant  i  Sturgis,  firm  of,  I,  163. 
Bucareli,   viceroy  of   Mexico,   promotes 

exploration    of    California,    I,     124- 

132,  204. 
Buchanan,   James,    II,    189,    245,   351, 

364. 
Buena  Quia  (good  guide)  River,  I,  17. 
Buffalo,  la.,  ferry  acrusa  Mississippi  at, 

11,67. 
Buffalo,  first  white  men  to  hear  of  the, 

I,  20;  herds  of,  noted  by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  I,  245,  202;  numbers  of,  on 
the  Great  Plains,  I,  3IX)-30l ;  prices 
paid  for  robes  by  American  Fur 
Company,  I,  353;  marked  diminu- 
tion in  (1840),  I,  300;  output  of 
robes,  1840-50  and  lS.-)0-60,  I,  306- 
367;  rate  of  retreat  of,  liefore  white 
man's  advance,  II.  31;  reliance  of 
Santa  F6  traders  on,  for  food,  II,  84. 

Buffalo  grass,  II,  12,  332,  339. 

Buford,  Major,  II,  344. 

Building  stones,  Missouri  Valley,  I, 
257;   in  Kansas,  II,  339. 

Bulfinch,  Charles,  I,  212,  214. 

Bunch  grass,  H,  176,  294. 

Burling,  Wilkinson's  go-b<i  ween,  I,  113, 
114. 

Burlingame  Treaty,  II,  319. 

Burlington,  la.,  ferry  across  Mississippi 
at,  II,  67. 

Burnet,  Texas  adventurer,  II,  105; 
quoted,  II,  159. 

Burnett,  Captain,  II,  10. 

Burr,  Aaron,  nebulous  pints  and  proj- 
ects of,  I.  109-110;  II,  17;  c|Uotc.l 
on    American    advance    iuto    Texas, 

II,  100. 

Burr  clover,  II,  296. 

Burton,    Richard    F.,    quoted,    I,    307; 

H,  200-202. 
Bushnell,  Horace,  II,  330. 
Butte  Creek,  II,  292. 


Cnballada,  troop  of  horses.  I,  123. 

Ciibbages,  (^difornia,  II,  303. 

C^ubeia  dp  Vaca,  Nuflei,  I,  15. 

Cubiri  right,  H.  ;)0I. 

("iibrillo,  explorations  by,  I,  9-10. 

(■.'.rho  Valley,  II,  173. 

Cudtt<loi|uis  tniliiinx,  I,  7"-80. 

('Hiludoquis  River.  I.  79. 

Caddo  Indians,  11,  13,  11. 

Cahokiu.  I.  !H),  238. 

Cajon  Pass,  11.  200,  212,  214, 

f  ^nlijKi^ahoa^    1     30. 

Calavnrtts  Kivcr,  II,  200. 
Caldron  I. inn.  I,  320,  324. 
Culhuuu,  Juhu  C,  II,  1U8. 


California,  named  by  I'lloa,  I,  9;  first 
Spanish  explorers  iu,  I,  h-10;  Span- 
ish and  Portuguew  explorations  of, 
I,  9-12;  Drake  on  coast  of,  I,  12; 
early  efforts  of  Spain  to  coloniie,  I, 
13-15;  Spanish  urged  to  coloniza- 
tion of,  through  fear  of  British  and 
Russian  encroachments,  I,  118-119; 
progress  of  .Spanish  coloniiation  of, 
I,  118-140;  division  of  administra- 
tion of  Upper  and  Lower,  I,  140- 
141 ;  causes  of  lack  of  results  from 
Spanish  under'akings,  I.  141-145; 
success  of  Franri.scan  missions  in, 
I,  145-156;  ill  effect  of  Franciscan 
friars'  regime  on  population  and 
colonizaticm  of,  I,  1,55-156;  re- 
strictions on  trade  to,  I,  156  ff. ; 
visits  of  Englii^h  and  Russians  to  ,San 
Francisco  Hay,  I,  157-1.')9;  bad 
treatment  of  .American  vessels  in 
ports  of,  I,  159-100;  visits  of  .Ameri- 
can vessels  to,  after  War  of  1812,  I, 
160;  during  Mexico's  war  for  in- 
di'fM'ndence,  I,  101  ;  beginnings  of 
outside  trade  with,  in  furs  and  hides, 
I,  102-105;  Captain  Hcechey's  ac- 
count of  trade  of,  I,  107;  .Mexican 
short-sightedness  concerning,  I,  108- 
171 ;  ruin  of  the  niis.sions  in,  I,  170- 
183;  the  rattle  kings,  I,  183-1S9; 
figures  of  trade  of,  in  hides  and  tallow, 
I,  180  (aef  ahu  Hides  and  tallow); 
results  of  seventy-live  years  of 
Spanish  occupation,  I,  189;  Ru.ssian 
fur  hunters  in,  I,  201-204;  Spanish 
explorations  along  coast  of,  I,  204- 
207;  Cook's  voy:ige  to,  I,  207-209; 
Boston  ships  at,  I,  210.  212-210; 
Jedediah   ,'^mith's  exploring   trips   to, 

I,  359,  .300;  .American  traders  to 
(about  1830),  If.  87;  benefit  to 
Mormons  frurn  di.scovery  of  gold  in, 

II,  179  180;  Mjrnion  emigrants  to, 
II,  203-206;  first  .ArniTJcan  settlers 
in,  IL  207;  opening  of  route  b*?twe<»u 
.Santa  V6  and,  by  Americans,  II, 
211  214;  .settlements  of  .Americans 
about  San  Framisco  Huy,  II.  214- 
210;  jealousy  displayed  by  Mexico 
aga'nst  Americans  in,  II,  217-218; 
attempts  by  Mexico  to  colonize,  11, 
21H-2HI:  population  of  I'piK-r,  in 
ISll,  II,  219;  foreign  control  of 
business  in  cities  of.  II,  220-221  ; 
ilnngcroiis  rivalry  of  Uussian,  French, 
Hritish.  and  American  interests  in, 
II,  221-227:  advriit  of  emigrants 
from  the  Kast  in,  II,  227-241  ;  com- 
parison of  routis  to.  II.  229-230; 
routes  acri'ss  Sit'.T;!.''.  to.  II.  2M3-23-'i' 
distribution  of  nationalities  in,  iu 
1846,  II,  211  ;  Kcarnc,\''s  advance  on, 
U,    244-245;     Ueur    Flag    Republio 


lidf^ 


U  ' 


'     i.ii 


I 


I    ii'      1    i 


422 


INDEX 


proclaimed  in,  II,  246-247;  cession 
of,  to  Inited  States,  by  treaty  of 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  II,  247;  ex- 
clusion of  slavery  from,  by  conven- 
tion to  adopt  state  constitution,  II, 
247-248;  the  land  question  in,  II, 
248-205;  spoliation  of  Spanish  land- 
holders in,  II,  253-255;  the  age  of 
gold  in,  II.  25.5-284  ;  financial  depres- 
sion and  panic  in,  following  shrink- 
age in  gold  production.  II,  285-288; 
return  of  normal  conditions  in,  II, 
287-288 ;  new  gold  discoveries,  and 
other  industries  in,  II,  288-281*;  com- 
mercial opportunities  of,  II,  289- 
291 ;  progress  in  raising  horses,  cattle, 
and  sheep  in,  II,  291-297 ;  drawbacks 
to  tillage  in,  II,  297-299;  corn, 
wheat,  and  other  grains  in,  II,  29!)- 
:i01 ;  irrigation,  II,  302-303;  sugar- 
beets,  II.  303;  fruits,  II,  303-304; 
other  agricultural  undertakings,  II, 
304-305;  reduction  in  siie  of  farm 
holdings,  II,  305-306;  development 
of  manufacturing  in,  due  to  Civil 
War  and  to  need  for  various  articles, 
II,  307-:til9;  decrease  in  manu- 
facturing upon  close  of  war  and  com- 
pletion of  transcontinental  railway.  II, 
313-314;  labor  conditions  in,  after 
1,849,  II,  314-317;  arrival  of  Chinese 
in,  and  troubles  over.  II,  317-319; 
subsiriptJDiis  in  to  stock  of  Central 
I'aciHc  Uy.,  II,  .iliO. 

Cctli/uriiia,  Panama  route  steamer,  II, 
202. 

California  and  ;'ionccr  Stage  Company, 
II.  290. 

California  Steam  Navigation  Company, 
II.  290. 

Californian,  the.  quoted  on  discovery 
of  gold,  II.  2.'>.">-2.')t) ;  suspension  of, 
for  lack  of  men.  II.  257. 

Cameahwait.  chief  of  Shoshone  In- 
dians. I,  205-2117. 

Ci.meron.  .Murdoch,  I,  2.84,  285. 

Caniino  del  niablo.  II,  244. 

Cnnnno  Heul,  mission  road  in  Culi- 
f.,rniii,  I,  130,  US, 

Campbell.  Robert.  I.  350. 

Camp  I'loy.l.  II,   192. 

Camp  I'ork.  II.  50. 

Canadian  Hivcr.  I.  343. 

Canary  I.slands.  immigrants  to  Teias 
from,  I.  9S,  102   103.  U4. 

CaneJoB  Kivrr.  I.  48. 

Cannon,  William.  II,  151. 

Cap-au-(iris,  II.  .89. 

C.ipi'  (iiranlcau.  s«'ttlcment  at,  II,  4. 

Carnii'l.  iiiisniiin  of,   I.    148.   149,   1.52. 

Carin.l  liiver.  I,  14.  1.'4. 

Curii.r">.  wtiiMp  in  gcniral,  more  es 
[HM'ialh    wi'thiTs.  I.  «i3. 

Carundclet,  villugu  of,  11,  4. 


Carretas,  New  Mexican  carts,  X,  59-60. 

Carson,  Alexander,  II,  151. 

Carson,  Kit,  I,  305;    11,  246. 

Car-son  River,  II,  234,  238,  239. 

Carver,  Jonathan,  explorations  by,  I, 
225-229. 

Cascade  Range,  I,  271  ;    II,  3.58. 

Cascades  of  Columbia  River,  I,  271. 

Cass,  Lewis,  II.  214,  230,  363. 

Cass  Lake,  I,  284. 

Castafieda,  Pedro  de,  quoted,  I,  16-'.'0. 

Castor-bean  raising  in  California,  II, 
305. 

Castro,  General,  II,  247. 

Castro,  Jos*,  I,  181. 

Castro  Valley,  II,  310. 

Catholics,  missionaries  of,  in  the  Colum- 
bia district  (1838),  II,  146.  .bVe 
Missions. 

Catlin,  George.  I,  355. 

Cattle,  intriMluction  of,  into  New 
Mexico,  I,  30;  raising  of,  about  St, 
Louis  under  the  French.  I,  90;  in 
Texas,  I,  103-105;  II.  101,  102-103; 
at  Franciscan  missions  in  Cali- 
fornia, I,  148,  175;  at  Fort  Van- 
couver (1828),  I,  335;  in  Mississi|i|)i 
Valley  near  New  Orleans  (1803).  II. 
7;  in  interior  of  Louisiana,  II,  20; 
in  .Vrk.'insas  Valley,  II,  30;  brought 
into  Oregon  country  from  California, 
II,  140,  of  the  Mormons.  II.  193. 
196.  203;  in  California,  II,  292-29i;; 
destruction  of,  by  drought  of  18.58, 
II,  295;  opening  for  raising,  in  Kan- 
sas. II.  340. 

Cattle  kings,  period  of,  in  California, 
I,  183-189. 

Cavendish.  Sir  Thomas.  I.  13. 

Cayuse  Indians.  II.  144.  145. 

Cedar  City.  II.  185.  203. 

Ce<lros  Island.  I.  9. 

Cenis  Inilians,  I,  77.  78,  79,  9.5-96. 

Central  .\merican  canal,  recommenda- 
tion of  a.  II.  3,58. 

Central  Pacific  Ry.,  II,  319:  cost  of, 
and  concessions  to,   II,  360-.'i61. 

Centralist  revolution,  at  City  of  Mexico 
(1831).  I.  171. 

Chaboillei,  Charles,  I,  252. 

Chaboneau.  French  (^aniKlian  guide  of 
Lewis  and  Clark,  I,  251,  253,  279, 
281. 

Chaboneau's  Creek.  I,  257. 
Chamliers,  trader  to  ISanta  F#.  II,  76. 
Ciiampoeg.    ranch   of    Kwing   Young  in 

Oregon,  II,  31,  103. 
Chandlesa,  William.  quoteU,  II,  199-200. 

255, 
Chapman.   Miller  and   Lux  Canal,   11, 

303. 
Chariton,  villi.ge  of.  II.  39. 
Charli's  III  of  Sp;iJn.  I.  5.  42. 
CHarU»town   Uercury,  qt  >ted,    II.    >!>• 


INDEX 


423 


Chargui,  dried  buffalo  meat,  I,  23. 

Chatham,   Vancouver's  ship,   I,  217. 

Chehalem  Creek,  II,  130. 

Chemanes,  American  ship  at  Columbia 
River,  II,  126. 

Cherokee  Indians,  II,  34. 

Cherries,  California.  II,  303. 

Chiametia,  I.  9. 

Chicago,  post  at,  maintained  as  a 
strategic  point,  I,  285. 

Chicago  River,  I,  6'J. 

Chichilticalli,  I,  18. 

Chickasaw  BlufTs,  I,  26. 

Chico,  Governor,  I,  177;    II,  217. 

Chieo  River,  II,  77. 

Chihuahua,  Americaa  traders  to,  II, 
86,  87. 

Chiles,  Joseph  B.,  II,  231,  235,  237. 

China,  trade  of  Boston  merrhania  with, 
from  California,  I,  163,  167;  a  mar- 
ket for  furs  taken  by  Russians,  I, 
200,  203;  fur  trade  between  north- 
west coast  and,  I,  216,  219-220,  308. 

Chinese,  arrival  of,  m  California  dig- 
gings, II,  317-318;  welcome  at  first, 
are  eventuully  driven  from  the  mines, 
II,  318-319;  employment  of,  in 
various  occupations,  and  labor  agita- 
tion against,  II,  319;  labor  of,  used 
on  Central  Pacific  Ry.,  11,  360. 

Chinook  Indians,  II,  117,  139. 

Chirikoff,  sea  captain  with  Behring,  I, 
196. 

Chittenden,  cited,  I,  354,  364. 

Chotoa,  vagab'  nds,  11,  219. 

Chopunnish  Indians  (Nei  Percys),  I, 
267. 

Chopunnish    (Touchet)    River,    I,    278. 

Chouteau,  Auguste,  I,  89,  242,  349; 
II,  64,  76. 

Chouteau,  Auguste,  Jr.,  I.   t06. 

Chouteau,  Pierre,  I,  300,  349,  350; 
11.  64. 

Chouteau's  Island,  II.  8.5. 

Chrislinn  Advocate,  the  Lees'  letters  in, 
r,  155. 

ChriHtiiin  Mirror,  Whitman's  articles 
in,  II,  15,'i. 

Cibola,  I,  3;  search  for  fabled  Seven 
Cities,  I,  15  a.;  Coronudo's  ei- 
pedition  at,  I,  18  20. 

Cider  and  "eider  royal."  II.  58. 

Cimarron  Dewrt.  II,  78,  80,  81,  82,  81. 

Cinnabar,  veins  of,  in  Coast  Range.  II. 
288. 

Civil  War,  effect  of,  on  Cnlifor-iia  prod- 
ucts and  manufaotiiniiK,  ||,  :fi»o- 
301,  304  305,  308,  311.  312,  313; 
precipitation  of,  by  election  of  Lin- 
coln. II,  .351. 

t"i»*iLMjrue,  Governor,  II,  1,5,  17. 

Claims  aiwocintions.  Iowa,  II,  67. 

Clark.  George  Rogers,  1.  231,  234.  237; 
II,  6tf. 


Clark,  William,  associated  with  Mori- 
wether  Lewis  in  exploring  expedition, 

I,  237-282 ;    meml)er  of  Missouri  Fur 
Company,  I.  ;{07. 

Clarke,  Darnel,  I.  110. 

Clarke,  John,  I,  323. 

Clark's  (.Salmon)  Uiver.  I.  279,  315. 

Clatsop  Indians,  I.  :;7:j-274  ;    II,  138. 

Clayoquot,  Captnin  Gray  at,  I,  215. 

Clear  Lake,  sulphur  mined  at,  II,  308. 

Clearwater  River,  I.  26S. 

Cleveland,  .\merican  supercargo,  in 
California  (1803).  I,   1.5!)-Hi0. 

Closed  portH,  of  Spain.  I,  4-5;  in  Cali- 
fornia under  the  .Spani.-th,  I,  150- 
100;    of  China,  I,  203,  209-211). 

Cloth,  manufactured  by  the  Mormons, 

II,  180. 

Cloth  mills,    n  Missouri,  II,  .50. 

Clover,  II.  ;i02. 

Coal,  found  by  I^wis  and  Clark  party 

in  Missouri,  I,  214  ;    reward  offered  by 

Mormons   for  discovery  of,    li,    l,sl ; 

at  Cedar  City,    II,    188;    in  Kaus;is, 

II,  3.39. 
Coast  Indians,  I,  147-148,228,271-275. 
Cceur  d'Al^ne  In(li;ins.  II,   147. 
CcEur  d'AIAne  River.  I,  295. 
Colorado,    fur    traders'    oi*rations    in. 

I.  3.57. 
Colorado  Desert,  I,  6,  128:    II,  92,  -Ml, 
Colorado  Indians,   I,  357. 
Colorado  River,  I,  20.  140,  365. 
Colter,  John,  I,  281,  304. 
Columa.  gold  found  at,  II.  2.56,  2.59. 
Columbia,     .\nn'riran    ship    on     Pacific 

coast,  I.  210-216, 
Columbia  Fur  Company,  I.  349. 
Columbia  River,  I,  20(>;    di.scovcry  of, 

by   Captain   Gray   in   ship  Columbia, 

I,   216;     Vancouver   off   the,    1,    218; 

explored    by    Lieutenant    Broughton, 

I,  218-219;    Uwi.s  and  Clark  party's 

trip  down  the,  I,  270-273  ;   the  party's 

return    voyage    up    the,    I.    277-278; 

the  Tonquin'a  voyage  to.  I,  309-311; 

founding  of  Aitoria  on.   I,   310  314; 

hold   kept  on   traile  of,  by   Hudson's 

Bay    Company,    II,    l)3-iu;     N.   J. 

Wyeth's  eipeililions  to,   11,    118-125. 

.Sir  (Jreir  'n, 
Coliunbia    Kiver    Fishing    and    Trading 

Tompany,  11.  122,  121. 
Comanche  Indians,  I,  3ti.'i ;    llie  scourge 

of  the  plains,  II.  13;    along  .Santa  F<> 

trail,  II,  81. 
Commercial     Company     of     the     River 

Missouri.  I.  235. 
Common  fields,  French  vill.iges,  I,  (M). 
Community   life,   in    Krcnrh   vill:mes  of 

.',.;s.si.ssippi    ami    .Missouri    vallevK,    I. 

9(>-9I:      Spanish,     in     California,     I, 

119,  I.M-IJO;    of  Mormons.  II.  177- 

178,  I'Jti. 


M 


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■1 

lii 

424 


INDEX 


Company  of  the  West,  the,  I,  RG-S'. 
Comatock    Lode,    discovery    of    (1H59), 

II,  288. 
Congregationalist,     Whitman's     articles 

in,  II,  155. 
Conquialadores,  conquerors,  I,  3,  8. 
Consumnes  River,  II,  259. 
Consumption    among    Columbia    River 

Indians,  II,  138. 
CorUrabandistas,  illegal  traders,  I,  160. 
Convoy,    American    ship    at    Columbia 

River,  II,  126. 
Cook,    Captain    James,    voyage    of,    I, 

207-209,  231. 
Cooke,    Colonel,    quoted,    II,    204-20.'), 
242-242 ;     leads   force   to   California, 
II,  244-245. 
Cook's  Inlet,  I,  208-209. 
Cook's  Last   Voyage,  Ledyard'a,  I,  211, 

232. 
"Coon  box"  banks,  I',  08. 
Cooper,  Benjamin,  II,  79. 
Cooper,   Braxton,    II,   37.   56,   79,  206. 

207,  217. 
Cooper,  Captain,  of  ship  Rover,  I,  162. 
Coos  Bay,  I,  14. 
Copper,    in    Lake    Superior    region,    I, 

227-228. 
Copper  mines,  Santa  Rita.  II,  90.  92; 

Gila  River,  II.  90.  91.  92. 
Cordelle,  line  for  towing  boats.  I.  241. 

256.  258;   II,  19,  59. 
Cordcro.  Governor.  I.  103.  111.  112. 
Corn,  raised  by  Indians  of  New  Mexico. 
I,  36;    in  Louisiana,  II,  24;    in  Ar- 
kan.saa      Valley,      II,     28,      .30;       in 
Missouri,   II,   44,   49;    in  Texas.   II. 
101;    in  California.  II.  299,  300;    in 
Kansas,  II,  340. 
Coronado,    search    of,    ftr    the    Seven 

Cities  of  Cibola,  I.  10-26. 
Cort^real.  Caspar,  I,  7. 
Cort«s,  I.  6,  8-9. 
Cortes,  Sea  of,  I,  9. 
Costan«6,  I,  120-124.  141. 
Cote  Sans  Dosein.n.  II,  38. 
Cotton,  early  cultivation  of,  near  New 
Orleans,    I,    84;     producticm    of,     in 
Louisiana,    II.    5,    7.    20;     along    Hcil 
River.  II.  8.  9;    exportation  of.  from 
New    Orleans    about    1820,     II,    23; 
Natchei    as    a    market    fur,    II,    21; 
along    the    Arkansas    Kivei,    II.    2."i ; 
about     .\rkausa8     Tost,     II,     28;      in 
Arkansas    Valley,    II.    30;     in    Mis- 
souri,   II.    49;     in    Texas,    II.    101; 
attempts   to   raise,    in   California.    II. 
304-305;    attempted  manufacture  ol. 
at  Oakland.  Cal.,  II.  312-313;  wa-ste- 
fiil  iiii'tliinis  of  production  in  Louisi- 
ana. II.  326;    prixluclion  of.  in  Texas 
in  18.'i4,  II,  329. 
Coudrois,   emigrant    to   California,    II, 
233. 


Council  Bluffs,  I,  307,  342;   first  steam- 
boat to  reach,  II,  62-63;    Mormoin 
at,  II,  169. 
Council  Grove,  II,  83. 
Couiicil  of  the  Indies,  I,  4. 
Coureurs    des    buis,    French    Canadi.-ai 
furtraders,  I,  90,  293,  294,  299,  347. 
Cowlitz  River.  II,  irv.i. 
Cox,  Ross,  I.  323,  329. 
"Coyote  holes."  II.  280. 
Cre<lit  sales,  system  of,  in  disposing  of 

public  lands,  II,  72. 
(^ree  Indians.  I.  224. 
'Jreolcs.  1, 29, 39, 58,66, 108, 109  ;  Frem  li. 
in  \ew  Orleans,  II,  3;  anti-.\mcri(;ui 
feeling  among  (1803),  II,  1.5-17. 
Crcspi,   Franciscan  missionarj-,   I,   12.', 

12,5. 
Crisis,   of    1819.   II.   45;    in   Iowa   aii.l 

other    western    lands    on    issu;in( f 

Specie  Circular.   II.  68-09;    in   Cali- 
fornia following  shrinkage  in  gold  i>r.i- 
duction.  II,  2.S5-2.S8. 
Crooks.  Ramsay,  I,  316,  320.  321.  323. 

324.  345.  349.  368;    II.  162. 
Crow    Indians.   I,   225,   307,   341.   31'i. 

364,  365. 
Crow's  flesh,  u-sed  aa  food  by  Lewis  and 

Clark,  I,  269. 
Croiat,  Anthony.  I.  82. 
Cruzatte.     toynneu,'     with     Lewis    and 

Clark   I,  200.  271. 
Cubu,    comparison    of    Louisiana    ami. 

as  to  sugar  production,  II,  32.5-;i26. 
Cummings,  governor  of  Utah,   II,   IVI, 

KM.  201-202. 

Curcicr,  Philadelphia  merchant,  II,  92. 

Custis,  Dr.  P'-'er,  II,  13. 

Customs  duties,  imixjsed  on  Amerli  in 

goods  at   New  Orleans,  j,  93;    li\  ir  I 

by    Spanish    in    California,    I,     1''". 

160.      167-168;       protection     of    ■<  ilt 

manufactures   by,    in    I'nited    Stiiiii. 

II,  73-74;    imposed  by  I'nited  .'^t:iti-i 

on  Santa  V(-  trade.   II,  78;    Spani-h, 

on   .Santa    V6   tradi-.    II,   8,")-S6.   21-'; 

collection    of.    at    S.iu    Francisco    in 

ISll.    II,  226-227;    at   New  t>rliaii-, 

after  .Vmirican  acquisition  of   I.oui-i- 

ana  Tcrritiiry,  II.  14. 

C'liNtoriis     house,      Monterey.      I,      Kii; 

.Siiiila  Fe,  II,  213. 
Cut  Hank,  town  of,  I,  280. 


D 

Dablon,    Jesuit    missionary,    iiuotcil.   \ 

67-68. 
Dairv  business  in  California,  II.  20i. 
Dalles  Indians,  I,  331. 
Uall(-s    ol    ttie    t  (iliiiiiiiia,    i,    271,    27- 

nii-*sions  at  tlic.  II.  139. 
Dana.  H.  II..  cited.  I,  161-165. 
Dana,  W.  U.,  II,  207. 


INDEX 


425 


Davis,  Jeffprson,  II,  .34.5. 

Davis,  W.  H.,  cited.  I.  186;    II,  207. 

Day,  John,  I,  .317.  .ii.i. 

Death  Route,  the,  II,  231. 

Deception  Bay,  I,  210. 

Deer,  I,  45,  70,  245,  2.J4.  262;  II,  30, 
236. 

Up^ri;  Jack,  II,  l.'il. 

Degrf,  Philip,  I,  276;    II,  l.'il. 

De  Haro,  .Spanish  explorer,  I,  210-211. 

Delaware  Imlians,  II.  333. 

De  Leon,  .settler  in  Texa.i,  II,  fIS,  105. 

De  Mofras,  Duflot,  cited,  I,  ISO,  1S5; 
II,  219,  22.5-226. 

De  Morfi,  Jean  .^URUHtin,  I,  40-44. 

De  Munn,  Julius.  II,  76. 

De  Neve,  Filipe,  Spanish  Rovernor  of 
California,  I,  132-13H;  f;iinouM  rru- 
lamento  of,  I,  1.33-136;  lofty  public 
spirit  of,  as  shown  by  scheme  of 
colonization,  I,  Ml  :  on  friars'  treat- 
ment of  Indians.  I,  l.")0-151. 

De  ResanofT,  attempt  of,  to  trade  with 
Spanish  at  San  Francisco  Hay.  I, 
158-1,5!). 

Des  Chutes  River,  II.  12:1. 

Deseret,  State  of,  II,  bSS,  205. 

Deseret  Iron  (^ompany.  II,  182. 

Des  Moines,  government  trading  post, 
I,  200. 

Des  Moines  River,  I,  246;  .salt  deposits 
on,  II,  .56. 

De  Soto.  Fernando,  explorations  bv, 
I,  26-27. 

Des  Plaines,  I,  60. 

Detroit,  post  at.  maintained  as  a  strate- 
gic point.  I,  285. 

Dc  Witt,  settler  in  Texas,  11,  OS,  105. 

Diablo.  Mt.,  II.  21.5. 

Dickson,  hunter,  I.  2X0. 

Digger  Indiana.  I,  357;  wretched  condi- 
tion of,  I,  360. 

Disappointment.   Cape.    I.   210,   215. 

Disintery,  Cook's  ship,  I.  207,  208. 

Disfarery,  Vancouver's  ship.  I.  217. 

Diseases  among  Indians  of  Oregon 
country,  II,  138.  148. 

Distilleries,  in  Missouri,  II,  .50;  at 
St.  f.ouis.  n,  t)5. 

Diion.  Capt:iin.  I,  209. 

Dogs'  flesh  used  as  food  by  Lewis  anrl 
Clark.  I,  270.  278. 

Donation  .\ct  of  ls.50.  II,  164,  165. 

Donner's  Lake,  II.  237. 

Dorion,  Pierre.  I.  2t7,  318.  319. 

Dorr,  Captain  lOlu-nrzcr,  I.  159. 

Douay,   Father  .\nastasius.   I.  76.  79. 

Douglas,  Captain,  I,  213. 

Douglas,  Stephen  .\.,  II,  333,  334,  319, 
351. 

i 'rake,  trancis,  1.  12-13. 

Drcd  Scott  decision,  H.  .';51. 

Drcwyer,  member  of  Lewis  and  Clark 
party,  I,  266,  280. 


Dried  buffalo  meat,  I,  23,  76,  77. 

Drips,  Astor's  agent,  I,  363. 

"Drogher"  trade  with  California,  I, 
164-165,  17(1 ;  figures  of,  from  1828 
to  1S48,  I,  1.86. 

Droughts  in  California,  II,  295,  297, 
299.  .i(X). 

Drouillard.  George,  lieutenant  of  Man- 
uel Lisa's,  I,  304  ;    killed  by  Indians, 

I,  307. 

"Dry  diggings,"  II,  279. 

Dry  farming,  II,  3.52. 

Dubois  River,  I,  2.38. 

Dubuiiue,   ferry   acro,ss    Mississippi    at, 

II,  67. 

Dubuque,  Julien,  I,  91. 

Dunbar,  William,  I,  111;  11,8;  explora- 
tion of  the  Washita  River  by,  11,1 1-12. 

Dunn.  .John,  quoted,   I,  .338-.3.'i9. 

Du  Pratj,  Ix-  Page,  French  colonist  in 
Louisiana,  I,  83-84,  85. 


Earthquake  of  1811,  II,  27. 

Ea.st  Cape,  sigh'ed  by  Cook,  I,  209. 

Easterners,  rush  of,  to  California  upon 
dii^covery  of  gold,  II,  260-263. 

East  India  Company,  I,  209. 

Echeandia,  Governor,  I,  173;    II.  92. 

Echo  Cafion,  II,  173,  190-191,  201,  237. 

Edgecombe,  Mt.,  discover.v  of,  b.v 
Russians,  I,  196;  Spanish  expedition 
reaches,  I,  206. 

Edwards,  P.  L.,  II,  1.35,  136. 

Edwards,  Texas  settler,  II.  98. 

Eels.  mi.s.sionary  to  Flathead  Indians, 
II,  144. 

Eliza,  American  vessel  ordered  out  of 
San  Franci.soo  Bay,  I,  1.59. 

Elk,  I,  45;  in  .Missouri  Valley,  I,  245. 
2.54,  262,  335;    il,  236. 

Elk  Rapids.  I,  2.59. 

El  Pii.so,  I,  39,  44,  91,  244;  Pike's 
account  of,  I,  .52- .53. 

El  Vadii  dc  Inx  Pnrlrrx,  I,  145. 

Emigrant  \Ui  companies,  II,  .3.36-.337. 
33S,  313,  3)9. 

Emigration,  from  Old  to  Xew  Spain, 
I,  t'> ;  from  I'rance  to  Louisiana,  I, 
81-82:  to  Louisiana  ceases  upon 
transfer  to  .Spain.  I,  89;  to  Texas,  I, 
98:  II,  96,  102:  description  of 
western,  II.  39-46;  tendency  of 
.■\mcric,in,  to  follrjw  latitudes.  II. 
6').  .310;  forwarrling  of,  b.v  f)pening 
up  of  tr;in.*-Mlcghniiy  routes  and 
ferri'^s  across  .Mississippi,  II.  66-67; 
incre.isi.  in.  owing  to  hard  times  of 
IS.33  :mil  1831.  II.  67-68;  to  the 
Oregon  country,  II.  124-125.  1.54- 
166;  the  .Mormon,  II,  167,  168-174, 
182-IH9:  the  beginning  of.  to  <'ali- 
fornia,    II,    227-231  ;     routes    across 


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426 


INDEX 


Sierras  followed  in  course  of,  II,  233- 
239 ;  encouragement  of.  to  California, 
II,  236;  wild  period  of,  following  on 
discovery  of  gold,  II,  260-264;  of 
free  state  men  to  Kansas,  II,  336- 
339,  .349-350. 

Emigration  Caflon,  11,  173. 

Emory,  W.  H..  quoted,  II,  332-333. 

Emprfsarioa,  managers  of  colonies,  IT, 
98,  101,  102.  104,  108,  216,  240. 

Encnmienda,  system  by  whirh  proprie- 
tors of  land  could  command  labor  of 
natives  upon  it,  I,  2S.  29,  3;,  32,  37, 
41,  144,  l.i.i;  abolition  of,  I,  42. 

Eiiwwea,  wage  paid  trappers,  I,  90,  292, 
302,  323.  305. 

English,  early  explorations  by,  I,  12-13, 
207-209.  216-217;  in  New  Orleans 
(1799).  II,  3;  land  grants  to.  in 
Texas,  II,  96,  98 ;  as  colonizers  of  the 
Willamette  Valley,  II.  149-154; 
converts  among,  to  the  Mormon 
faith.  II,  185-186;  number  of,  in 
California  (1841),  II,  219.    SeeBritish. 

Enterprise,  steamboat,  II,  60. 

Entrada,  entry,  expedition,  I,  31. 

Erie  Canal,  II,  57;  impetus  to  emigra- 
tion given  by,  II,  66. 

Escatin,  thirty-six  cents,  I.  89. 

Escallante  Father.  Franciscan  mis- 
sionary. I,  145. 

Escheloot  Indians,  I,  270-271. 

Espejo,  Antonio,  I,  30-31. 

Espiritu  Santo  (Mississippi)  River,  I, 
26,  27. 

Esplandian,  fabulous  island  of,  I,  9. 

Estevanico,  negro  with  Nirxa,  I.  16. 

Estrada,  Jos*^,  I,  181. 

Estrejo  Carquines,  I,  125;    II,  214. 

Etholine,  Governor,  II.  222. 

Eucalyptus  trees,  in  California,  II,  310. 

Europa,  Boston  ship  at  Columbia  River. 
II,  126. 

Europe,  adventurers  from,  in  California 
upon  gold  discovery,  II,  263-264. 

Evans,  John,  I,  235. 

Exportation,  of  hides  and  tallow  from 
California,  I.  lOl-Itl!),  176,  186-187; 
of  "otton,  suKr.r,  molimscs,  and  peltry 
from  Louisiana.  11.  .5-6;  of  gold  from 
California,  II,  278;  of  grain,  II.  300- 
301;  of  mining  machinery,  II,  308; 
of  fiour,  II,  311. 

Exports  from  San  Francisco,  II.  289. 


Pages.  Pedro.  I.  122.  125. 

Fair,  hel<l  at  Prairie  du  Chicn.  I,  229. 

Fairwputher  Range.  I.  208. 

FuHfi/'t,  uioaMure  of  gruiii  *-mu«1  to  two 
buihcls.  I,  40.  1.33,  137.  175. 

Farallone  Islands,  I,  123;  otter  hunt- 
ing on  the,  I.  202. 


Farms,  in  California,  II,  305-306. 
Famham,    Russell.    I,    349;     II,    162; 

quoted.  I,  370-371. 
Farnham,     T.   J.,     Oregon     enthusia..it , 

II.    133,    151;     Travels    in   the   (Jrnt 

Weslerr^  Prairies  by,  II,  155. 
Far  West,  Mo.,  II,  167. 
Feather  River.  II,  234,  235,  251.  2.59. 
Fcmme  Osage,  II,  36. 
Ferrelo,   explorer   on    California   co.i  •, 

I,  10. 
Ferries  across  Mississippi  River.  II.  ii7. 
Ferris,  independent  trapper.  II,   121. 
Fields,  the,  members  of  Lewis  and  Clurli 

party,  I,  280. 
Figs,  in  Louisiana.  II.  24. 
Figueroa.  Governor,  plan  of,  for  emanri- 

pating  mission  Indians  in  Californii. 

I,  174-176;     treatment    of    Hall    .1. 
Kelley  by,  II.  127-128. 

Filare.  I.  185 ;  II.  294. 

Fisliery  and  Fur  Company.  Mackenjii-'.s 

proposed,  I,  295. 
Fishing  Falls.  II.  143. 
Fisk,  Dr.  Wilbur.  II.  135. 
Fitch.     American     merchant     at     S;in 

Diego.  II.  220. 
Fitipatrick,    Thomas.    I.  356.  362.  3(17, 

368;    II.  228. 
Flagg.   Edward,  quoted.  II.  46-48.  ilj. 
Flathead    Indians.    I,    270.    315;     liiic 

qualities  of,  II,  133-134  ;   missiorKiii.  - 

to  the,  II,  134-'-o6,  144-148. 
Flat  Head  Pci,  I,  361. 
Flattery,  Cape,  I.  208. 
Flax,  in  Missouri.  II,  49. 
Flint,  James,  quoted  on  land  spc.-  il  i- 

tion  in  Missouri.  II.  44-45. 
Flint.  Timothy.  11.  20-21.  93;    qu  it-l. 

II,  42-44,  58-59,  60. 
Floating  grants  of  land,  II,  268. 
Flour,     manufacture    of,     in     Mi.'^.-imin. 

II,  50;   in  California.  II,  311. 

Floyd,  member  of  Lewis  and  Clark  (  \- 
pedition,  I,  2.39. 

Flovd,  Senator.  II.  161-162. 

Fodders  for  cattle.  II.  30.  185.  244,  2't!. 
295-296. 

Fond  du  Lac,  I,  288. 

Font,  Pedro,  I,  127-132. 

Fontain  qui  Bouille,  I,  46;    II,  77. 

Forbes,  Alexander,  II,  224,  288-.'^  '. 

Foreign  Miners'  Tax  Law.  II.  28:i  -'^l, 
318-319. 

Fort  Aasiniboin.  I.  295. 

Fort  Astoria,  I,  312. 

Fort  Athabasca.  I,  295. 

Fort  Benton.  I,  349. 

Fort  Bois«,  I,  3,36.  ,3,59:  11,  143,  l.W,  231. 

Fort  Bonneville,  11.  121. 

Fort  BridRfr,  I,  371  .'iTS;  H,  IV'.  ;"■•■ 
Mormons  at,  II,  172-173;  destruc- 
tion of,  II,  191. 

Fori  Cass,  I,  349;   II.  121. 


,  ■—     1^     J- 


INDEX 


427 


Fort  Chippewyan,  I,  229,  230. 

Fort  Clatsop,  I,  273. 

Fort  Colvillc,  I,  .JiiO;   II,  144. 

Fort  Crfivecteur,  I,  69. 

Fort    Hull,    I.   3,Jt>-:«7:     II.    122,    124, 

155,  1,58,  228,  2;il,  237. 
Fort  Hcnr.v,  I.  320,  321. 
Fort  Kearney,  II,  3.55. 
Fort  Kootenai,  I,  2'J5. 
Fort  Lancaster,  I,  374. 
Fort    Laramie,    1,    34G;     II,    15S,    172, 

355. 
Fort  Leavenworth,  II,  358. 
Fort  Lisa,  I,  307. 
Fort  Mackenzie,  I,  349. 
Fort  Mandan,  I,  249.  251. 
Fort  Mortimer,  I,  372. 
Fort  Osage,  I,  299. 
Fort  Pembina,  I,  345. 
Fort  Piegan,  I,  349. 
Fort  Riley,  II,  343. 
Fort  Ross,  I,  202. 
Fort  St.  Louis,  I,  75,  80. 
Fort  Smith,  II,  28,  30,  356,  358. 
Fort  Snell.ng,  II,  07,  215. 
Fort  Tecumseh,  I,  350. 
Fort  Union,  I,  349.  3.50:    II,  121. 
Fort  Vancouver,  I,  332-341;    value  of 

annual  output  of  furs  from,   I,  337 : 

Jedediah  Smith's  sojourn  at,  I,  3U1  ; 

N.  J.  Wyeth  at,  II,   120,   122;    Hall 

J.  Kelley  at,  II,  127-130;   the  end  of, 

II,  106. 
Fort  Walla  Walla,  I,  334;    II,  120.  144. 
Fort  Wayne.  I,  285. 
Fort  Wilhara,  I,  295;    II,  123. 
Forty-mile  Deaert.  II,  238. 
Ftiucannier,  dried  buffalo  meat,  I.  77. 
Fowler,  Jacob,  II.  76-78.  89. 
Fox  Indians,  I,  341. 
Framboise,  trapper,  I,  127;    II,  151. 
Franchdre.    Gabriel,    I,   310,    314,    329; 

quoted,  I,  325-326;    II,  i:i3. 
Franciscan   friars,   missionary    work   of, 

I,  30,  33,  31-36;    in  Tcx.w,  I,  95-90; 

in  Upper  California,  I.   119  fT.,     124. 

145-156;      removal     of.     from     Cali- 
fornia by  decree  of  1829,  I,  172. 
Franklin,    Mo.,    II,    39,    41:     terminal 

point  of  Santa  F«  trail,    11,   80,   82; 

ruffians  from,  in  Kanaa.s.  II,  340. 
Fraier  River,  I,  230;    II.  287. 
Freeman,  Thomas,  II,  13. 
Free  Soil  party,  II,  335-352. 
Free    atate    men,    uctiviti'-i    of.    in    the 

Kansas  question.  II.  ;i35-352. 
Free    trade    edict    of    Charles    III    of 

Spain,  I,  5. 
Free   trappers,    I.    294,   302-303,    353- 

35i,    352.    365;     11,    125,    150-15!; 

treatment     of,     by     American     Fur 

Company,  I,  352-354. 
Freight  charges,   from   New   Mexico  to 

tlie  ^«caports,   I,  57 ;    on  steamboats. 


II.  60-61;  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco,  II,  276;  on  Misscuri 
River,  II,  341. 

Fremo-  •,,  J.  (".,  quoted,  I,  340-348, 
,3H7,  371;  II.  157-1,58;  explor;iti(m 
of  Great  Siilt  Lake  by,  II,  171; 
Journal  of.  II,  171  ;  trip  of,  across  the 
SierriW,  II,  2'-H-2.i'>  at  .Sutter's 
Fort,  II.  235;  enthu.-iuiHtic  account 
in  his  Journal  augments  California 
enthusiasm,  II,  236;  interference  of, 
in  California,  leading  to  war  between 
.\mericans  and  Mexicans,  II.  24.5- 
240;  survey  of  central  overland  route 
by,  II,  3.)H,  3.59;  valuable  mining 
claim  secured  by,  II,  208. 

French,  explorations  of  Louisiana  Terri- 
tory by,  I,  60-87;  cede  Louisiana  to 
Spain,  I,  88 ;  regain  the  territory  and 
cede  to  United  States,  I,  94 ;  ex- 
ploration.s  of,  in  overland  search  for 
the  Western  Sea,  I.  222-225;  settle- 
ments of.  in  Louisiana  Territory,  II. 
4  fF. ;  villages  of,  along  Misdisaippi, 
dwindle  gradually,  II,  27-28;  con- 
tra.-ted  with  German  Lutherans  in 
Mi-i-souri,  n,  42;  among  colonizers 
of  the  Willamette  Valley,  II,  153-151 ; 
number  of,  in  California  in  1841, 
II.  219;  inquiry  by,  into  possibility 
of  their  acquiring  California,  II.  22,5- 
220 ;  number  in  California  in  1846. 
II.  241 ;  emigration  of,  to  California 
upon  discovery  of  gold,  II,  203. 

French  Camp,  II,  223. 

French  Canadians,  in  Mississippi  Rivet 
settlements,  I,  90-92,  240-241  ;  over- 
land search  for  Western  Sea  by.  I, 
222-225;  found  living  in  Mandan 
villages  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  I.  2.^0- 
251  ;    as  trappers  in  Missouri  \"alley, 

I,  .302-303;  number  of,  in  California 
in  1841.  11.  219. 

French  Creoles  in   New  Orleans  (1799). 

II.  3;  unti-.\merican  feeling  among, 
II,  15  17. 

Ficnch  Prairie,  I.  270;    II,  1,50. 

Fresno  County.   California,   II.  295. 

Frelum  Aniitm,  I,  7. 

Frijules,  sausages,  I,  40. 

Frontenae,    Count,    I,   68. 

Frontera,  II,  246. 

Frost,  .1.  H.,  II,  139. 

Fruit,   on   mission   farms  in   California, 

I.  148;  in  Louisiana,  II,  21;  'u  .\r- 
kansas  Valley,   II,  30;    in  California. 

II,  91.  303  304. 

Fuca,    .Juan   de,    I,    7;    strait   of,    I,    7, 

200,  209,  210.  214,  215. 
Fuf  traJe,  Toijti   -"-Ited   --ri  opporf-ir.ity 

for,     in     Mississippi     Valley,     I,     70; 

beginnings    and    development    of   the 

Russian,    on     Pacific    coast,     I,     119. 

190-202 ;    .\mcn.vin,    with   California 


428 


INDEX 


f. 


h 


'i  I 


iH 


f„ 


under  Mexican  rule,  I,  162-163; 
8timulu8  to,  resulting  from  Cook's 
discoveries,  I,  209-210;  English 
endeavors  to  carry  oc.  on  Pacific 
coast,  I,  210-211;  inland  trade  eon- 
ducted  by  French  at  Montreal,  I, 
222,  224,  225;  boatloads  of  furs, 
met  by  Lewis  and  Clark  on  Mis- 
souri River,  I,  246-247;  of  North 
West  Company  in  Minnesota,  I, 
284 ;  attempted  regulation  <if,  by 
United  States  government  in  the 
Minnesota  country,  I,  285-2.SS; 
continued  exploitation  of  that  of  tho 
Mississippi  by  North  West  Company, 
to  1815,  I,  288;  Spanish  policy  re- 
garding, in  Louisiana  Territory,  I, 
289-291 ;  as  conducted  by  Britisli 
traders,  I,  201-298;  rivalry,  op.ii 
warfare,  and  consolidation  of  Uuii- 
Bon's  Bay  Company  and  North  Wist 
Company  for,  I,  292-298;  the  Ameri- 
can policy  regarding  the,  I,  298- 
299 ;  richness  of  Louisiana  Territory 
in  furs,  I,  .'iOO-SOl ;  St.  Louis  the 
primary  market  of  the  American,  1, 
301-302;  Manuel  Lisa's  activities 
in  the,  I,  302 -.307;  J.  J.  Astors 
activities,  I,  307-308;  Astor's  Pa- 
cific Fur  Company  and  the  Astoria 
venture,  1,  308-332;  North  Wist 
and  Hudson's  Bay  companies  on 
Columbia  Hiver,  \.  332-341 ;  value  of 
annual  output  of  furs  from  Fort 
Vancouver,  I,  337;  deinoraliziiig 
elTcct  of  War  of  1812  on  the  American, 
I,  341-343;  rivalry  and  virissituilcs 
of  American  companies,  I,  343-;i47; 
activities  of  Astor's  American  Fur 
Company  operating  from  St.  Louis, 
I,  348-355;  exhaustion  of  bea\er 
and  diminution  of  bufTulo,  I,  3t>il  - 
368;  the  decline  of  the,  I,  3()6-37.'); 
annual  take  of  .Xineriran  Fur  Cinn- 
pany,  L  3t'8;  fate  of  men  enK;iK<'d  i". 
I,  370-375;  with  Santa  i'f.  II.  75  IT. ; 
in  New  .Menico,  II,  89,  90,  92;  ex- 
tension of,  into  Califoriii:i,  II,  207- 
211  ;  .Sutter's  venture  in  the,  II,  21('>; 
withdrawal  of  Russian- Amernan  Fur 
Company  from  California,  11,  22.': 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  closes  up 
business  at  San  Francisco  Bay,  II, 
225. 


G 


Gale,  W.  A.,  I,  163;    II.  207. 

Gallatin  River,  I,  204.  279. 

Galvti,    jooe,    reloru,.^    .,t,    in    Mexico. 

I,  IIS;    colonizing  expedition   sent  to 

California  by,  I,  1-20-124. 
Gamalanil,  fabled  mid-Pacific  continent, 

I,  193,  195, 


Ganado  mfnc,  small  beasts  of  pasture, 

I,  04-65. 

Gang-ploughing,  California,  II,  300,  .'iol. 

Gang-ploughs,  manufacture  of,  II,  311. 

Garc^s,  Francisco,  I,  145-140,  147. 

Gardner,  John,  I,  351. 

Gasconnade  River,  II,  57. 

Gass    Patrick,    I,    239,   280;     diary    .,f, 

II,  114. 

Clates  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  I,  21) t. 
General  Pike,  first  steamboat  on  ujjpi  r 

Mississippi,  II,  02. 
Genoa,  Nevada,  station  at,  II,  206. 
Gfntc  (ie  rnzitn,  people  of  reason  in  di'- 

tinction  from  the  savages.  I,  135.  I'lH. 
GeiiliUn,  wild  Indians,  I,  140,  14s,  179. 
GiTi/n,   a  kind  of  coarse   woollen   cloili, 

I,  .lO. 
German  Lutherans  in  Missouri.  II,  'M\, 

41-12. 
Germans,    number   of,    in    Califoriii:i    hi 

1840,  II,  211;    as  farmers  in  the  l.ir 

West,  II,  305. 
Gervais,  Joseph.  II.  130,  151. 
Giant  Spring,  I,  201. 
Gibbons  Pass,  I,  1379. 
Gihi  Kiver,  II,  .89,  90. 
Gila    Uiver    route    to    California    from 

Santa  Fe,  II,  2tl. 
Gillespie,  l.ieutenanl.  II,  210. 
Gilroy's  ranch,  II,  232. 
(;ir  inieau.  Cape,  II.  1.'. 
Clean,  Hugh.  II,  70  "S. 
( iiats,  introduction  of,  into  New  .Mexico, 

I,  30. 

Gold,  found  near  .San  Fernando.  :i;i  1 
early  propheeies  relating  to.  I.  185; 
benefits  to  Mormons  at  Cireut  S;i!t 
I.aki!  from  discovery  of.  in  Californiu, 

II,  179-1S();  aisc(jvery  of,  at  Sutti  r's 
Fort  (I8IS),  II,  2.55-2.50;  efTeet^  of 
discovery,  in  .Viiierica  and  Kuroi'e, 
II,  250-204;  piiniitive  methods  '"f 
mining,  II,  203-201;  lack  of  regiil:i- 
tion  of  claims,  II,  2(iO-207  ;  loca'.inii 
of  the  fic-lds,  II,  206-2(i7,  amount  .  i 
production  in  Is  18  and  1819.  II.  20s; 
estimate  of  iivera;;e  yield  to  eaili 
miner.  II,  209-271.  281;  uliini:ite 
destiny  of  that  mined.  II,  271 --'75: 
discovery  of.  a  curse  to  country 
where  found  ,is  well  as  to  those  who 
mine  i'.  II.  275:  advances  in  methods 
of  minim,',  II.  279-2s();  code  d.- 
viscd  by  men  engaged  in  mining,  II. 
281-282:  g'and  total  of  yield  in 
California  in  difTercnt  years.  II.  2sl 
285;  panic  due  to  shrinkage  in  out- 
put, II,  2S0-2S7  :  production  of,  from 
i85S  l-i  !s.;s,  H,  2-s.  e;T.-'  -'f  d!. 
covery  of,  on  transcontinental  trans- 
portaiio:i  ouestion,  II,  355-3.56. 

Gold  IllutT  fake,  II,  273. 

GM>  u  lliiiil.  Drake's  vesstd,  I,  12,  13. 


INDEX 


429 


Gomp!!.   Franciscan  missionnry,   I,   122. 

GoptuTH,  il.H  a  pent.  n.  2U\K 

Gordon,  free  trapper,  II,  151. 

Government  stores  opened  by  United 
States  to  help  regulate  fur  tradi^.  I, 
299;  attack  on,  by  Benton,  A.ftor, 
and  others,  I,  .34,5-.'54l) ;  abolition  oi, 
I,  34t>;  Benton  quoted  on  struKRle 
to  .secure  abolition  of.  If,  70-71, 

Graham,  Isaac,  II,  218,  2J1,  241. 

Grama  Rras.s,  II.  214. 

Grand  Caiion,  discovery  of,  by  Spanish, 

I,  20;  crossing  of,  by  Father  Escal- 
lante,    I,    14.5. 

Grand  Prairie,  II,  27. 

Gr.ande  Ilonde,  II,  U3, 

Grap(>  Creek,  I,  40.  41. 

Grapes,  cultivation  of,  proscribed  by 
.Spanish  in  N'ew  World,  I,  4;  in- 
trmluced  into  New  Mexico,  I,  .id ; 
in  Arkansas  Valley,  II,  .10;  in  Cali- 
fornia, II,  30:t-:«)4. 

Grappe,  Francis,  II,  S. 

Grasshoppers,  pluRues  of,  II,  89,  1S2, 
299. 

Gratjot,  C,  I,  212. 

Gr.ay,  .loe,   Iroquois  Indian  in  Oregon, 

II,  14.-). 

Gray,  Mr.,  missionary  to  Oreiton 
country,  II,  142. 

Gray,  Robert,  explorations  of  north- 
west  coa.st  and   Columbia   River  In  . 

I,  212-210;  .\merican  title  to  O' 
country  based  on  discoveries  oi, 
114, 

Gray's  Bay,  I,  219. 

Great  .\merican  Or-iert,  I,  .100;    II,  170. 

Great  Basin,  f  iing  parties  in  the 
(IS20),  I,  .•?:!7;  mentioned.  11.  114; 
beginnings  of  irrigation  in,  II,  174. 

Great  Falls,  town  of,  I,  202. 

Great  Falls  of  the  Columbia,  I,  270. 

Great  Falls  of  the  .Missouri,  I,  2.V),  201. 

Great  Northern  R.  R.,  I,  202. 

Great  Plains,  march  of  Spanish  Rold- 
seekers  across,  I,  22-27;  bulfalo  on 
the,  I,  aoO-.lOl :  attention  of  .South- 
erners drawn  to,  as  fresh  soil  for 
slavery,  II,  331  ;  reported  by  early 
explorers   as   unsuited   to   settlement, 

II,  .332-3.33;  Indian  reservations  on. 
II,  333;  report  on,  of  eommissioners 
of  Kansas  League  of  Cini'innati,  II, 
339-310. 

Great  Raft  of  the  Red  River.  II.  27.  61. 

Great  Salt  Lake,  I,  ;i.-)7,  3r,S,  300,  30r> ; 
visitors  to,  previous  to  .Mormons.  II. 
171  ;  arrival  of  Mormons  at,  11,  173- 
174;  survey  of,  by  ('aptain  Stans- 
bury.  II.  194-19-). 

Great  Salt  Lake  \',illey  Carrying  Com- 
pany. II,  ISO. 

Great  Slave  River.  I,  229. 

Great  \  alley,  exploration  and  develop- 


ment of,  by  Peter  Skeene  Ogden,  II, 
210;     Dr.    John    .Marsh's    ranch    in, 
II.  214-21,5. 
Greeks,  ships  of  Spanish  navigated  by, 

I,  3. 

Greeley,  Horace,  quoted,  II,  362. 
Green  River,  I,  3,56,  357,  358,  365,  375; 

II,  121,  172, 

Greenwood,  guide  to  California,  II, 
237. 

GreKg,  .St.  Louis  trader,  cited,  I,  31 ; 
Commerrc  nf  the.  Prairies  by,  quoted, 
I,  .58-00;  II,  81-82,  88;  on  destruc- 
tion of  the  buflfalo,  I,  .301 ;  reports 
Cireat  Plains  as  unsuited  to  settle- 
ment, II,  332. 

driffin.  La  Salle's  ship,  I,  69. 

tjriiider,    frontier   inn-kec[)er   and 
posed    slayer    of    Meriwether    I 

I,  283. 

Groseiller,     Jean,     explorations    b 
222-223. 

C!ii.idalu|H!  River,  II,  .  28. 

liiiniie,  a  kind  of  nourd,  I,  02, 

(iuerra,  Pablo.  II,  92. 

Ciiinnison,     Lieutenant,     The     M"'- 
or  hfUter  Day  Saints,  etc.,  by,  2[ 
surveys  of  routes  across    Uoc£i*-'- 

II,  3.5S,  3.59. 

Guzman,  Xuflez  Beltran  de,  I,  S. 
Gwin,  Senator,  II,  252,  364. 


H 


(.1  of  Mississippi  Vallc^r       irngCK, 
1,    ■).  91,  241.  ;J02;    II,  27---      C. 

Ilaeeta,  Bruno  de,  I,  200. 

llafienrtatf,  farm-hou.ses,  I. 

Male,  Edward  Everett,  II 

Hall,   Tucker  &  Williams.  ■   of,   i 

119,  122. 

Halleck,  General,  II,  248. 

Ham's  Fork,  II,  122,  200. 

Hancock,  hunter  of  the  Illinois  countrv , 

I,  2S0. 

I'lncoek  Point,  I,  215,  216. 
iland-cart     brigades"     of     the     Mor- 
mons, 11,  183. 
ancy,  Hu^h,  I,  2.52. 

Hanna,  Captain  James,  I,  209. 

Harney  Lake.  I.  340. 

Hartnell,  W.  E,  P..  experience  of,  as 
visitaitor  unteral  of  California  mis- 
sions, I.  178-179;  mentioned,  II, 
224. 

Harvey.  Pruneau  &  Co..  firm  of,  I,  372. 

Hastings,  L.  W.,  II,  232,  237;  Guide 
by,  II,  230. 

HiLsti.iffs'  Ciit  an.  II,  "237, 

Hatn,  temporary  shcepfold,  I.  63. 

Hawaiians   in   California  gold  diggings, 

II.  202,  2,S2,  2S3,  310.  317. 
Hawkins,  Sir  John,  I,  12, 


430 


INDEX 


^■ 


:i  'i 


Head-right  system  of  obtaining  public 
lands,  II,  72;   II,  105. 

Heart  River,  I,  247. 

Helper,  ex-gold-seeker,  quoted,  II,  28?- 
290. 

Hemp,  in  Arkanifas  Valley,  II,  30;  in 
Missouri,  II,  49;  growth  of,  in  Kan- 
sas and  Missouri,  II,  340. 

Hennepin,  Father,  I.  22.5. 

Henry,  .\lexandcr,  Jownala  of,  I,  297; 
quoted,  I,  3.32-,3,3.3. 

Henry,  Andrew,  I,  307,  355,  356. 

Henry's  Fork  of  Snake  River,  I,  307, 361. 

Herald  of  Freedom,  the,  II,  337. 

Herculaneura,  Mo.,  II,  53,  55. 

Herrera,  General,  I,  111,  112. 

Herrera,  Me.iloan  insurgent  and  free- 
booter,   I,  115-116. 

Hidalgo's  insurrection,  II,  75. 

Hide.s  and  tallow,  trade  in,  with  Cali- 
fornia under  Mexican  rule,  I,  163, 
164.  165,  167;  produced  by  Cali- 
fornia missions  at  climax  of  their 
prosperity,  I,  175-176;  remain  the 
stable  export  of  California  during 
period  of  cattle  kings,  I,  1.S6-1S7. 

Hiena,  German  buccaneer  with  La  Salle, 

I,  76,  77. 

Higginson,  Thomas  Wcntworth,  quoted, 

II,  349. 

Hijar,  Mexican  officer,  II,  218. 

Hijos  del  pais,  sons  of  the  country,  I,  57, 
189;    II,  86, 

Hinckley,  Captain,  II,  207,  221,  241. 

Hittcll.  (  ted,  II,  263,  265. 

Hock  Faim,  II,  292. 

Hngan,  settler  at  Little  Rock,  II,  29. 

Hogs,  at  Fort  Vancouver,  I,  335;  in 
interior  of  Louisiana,  II,  26;  in 
Texas,  II,  103. 

Holladay,  Ben,  II,  35P   ^57. 

Homestead  Act,  II,  2;.^     353,  361-365. 

Honey,  in  California,  II,  ,    ". 

Hood,  Mt.,  named  by  Buughton,  I, 
219. 

Hood's  Canal,  11,  153. 

Horse-flesh  used  as  food  by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  I,  268.  278. 

Horses,  brought  by  Spanish  into  New 
Mexico,  I,  36;  in  Texas  under  the 
Spanish,  I,  103-104;  numbers  of, 
rai':ed  at  California  missions,  I,  175- 
176;  rapiil  multiplication  of.  during 
period  of  the  cattle  kings  in  Cali- 
fornia, I,  IX.") :  wculth  of  Sho.shone 
IiKlian-H  in,  I,  2<i6  ;  at  Fort  \'ancouvrr 
(1S28),  I,  335;  brouirlit  into  Oregon 
from  California,  II,  140;  of  the  Mor- 
mons, II,  193;  improvement  of 
California  breed  by  importing  higher 
strains,  II.  293,  294-29,5. 

Houston,  Sam,  II,  69,  100. 

Hubbard,  Congressman,  quoted,  II, 
363. 


Hubbard,  Hawley  A  Co.,  firm  of,  I 
374. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  I,  181,  188- 
189 ;  policy  pursued  by,  in  conduct- 
ing fur  trade,  I,  201-292;  monopoly 
enjoyed  by,  broken  by  treaty  of  Paris, 
I,  292-293;  rivalry  of  the  North 
West  Company,  I,  292-298;  con- 
solidation of  the  North  West  Company 
and,  I,  298;  success  of,  at  Fort  Van- 
couver on  Columbia  River,  I,  334- 
341;  decrease  in  receipts  of,  from 
decline  in  fur  trade,  I,  389-370; 
hold  kept  on  Oregon  country  by,  11, 
113-114;  Hall  J.  Kelley's  complaints 
against,  II,  129-130;  conservative 
policy  of,  toward  the  Indians,  II, 
148-149;  trade  with  Russian  settle- 
ments carried  on  by,  II,  152;  dis- 
approval of  McLoughtin's  encourase- 
ment  of  colonization  of  Oregon  shown 
by,  II,  160;  officials  of,  in  Oregon, 
take  out  citizens'  papers,  II,  KW; 
withdrawal  of,  from  Columbia  River. 
TI,  166;  enterprises  of,  extended  inti 
lomia.  II,  208,  210-2U;  fac- 
ies  of,  at  Yerba  Buena,  San  .losj^, 
jd  Monterey,  II,  221,  222;  declines 
Russians'  offer  to  sell  to  it  property 
at  Bodega  Bay,  II,  222-223;  closes 
business  at  San  Francisco  Bay,  II, 
225. 

Hudson's  Bay  trail  from  Oregon  to 
California,  II,  233. 

Hudspeth,  II,  237. 

Humboldt,  New  Spain  by,  I,  50;  cited, 
I,  147;    quoted,  I,  155-156. 

Humboldt  River,  I,  340;  II.  237,  238; 
route  by  way  of,  to  California,  II, 
237-239. 

Humphreys,  Captain,  II,  13. 

Hunt,  Wilson  Price,  in  command  of 
J.  J.  Astor's  expedition  to  the  Colum- 
bia River,  I,  315-316;  difficulties 
encountered  by,  in  journey  from  .'>t. 
Louis,  I,  316-323;  undertakes  Alas- 
kan trading  voyage,  I,  324 ;  on  re- 
turn to  Astoria  finds  North  West 
Company  in  possession,  I,  327-328 ; 
ill  success  of  venture  partly  due  to 
unfitness  of,  I,  330. 

Hunter,  George,  II,  8,  12. 

Huron  Indian.s,  I,  222. 

Hurt,  Garland,  II,  203. 

Hhho.  primitive  spindle,  I,  .59. 

Hydraulic  mining,  II,  279-2S0;  injuri- 
ous effects  of,  on  agriculture,  11,  2!tS- 
299. 


Iberville,  French  j;{plorer  and  c  /loniicr, 

I,  81. 
Iberville,    settlement   of    Acadians,    II, 

3-4. 


INDEX 


431 


Icy  Cape,  I,  209. 

IllinoiB,  character  of  settlers  in,  in  1803, 
II,  5 ;  emigrants  from,  to  Oregon,  II, 
157. 

Illinois  River,  I,  69. 

Import  duties,  port  of  Monterey,  1, 167. 

Imports  to  Upper  California,  I,  167 ; 
to  San  Francisco,  II,  289. 

Independence,  Mo.,  point  of  departure 
of  Santa  F6  traders,  II,  8,3;  Mor- 
mons driven  from,  II,  167. 

Independence,  steam  tug,  II,  62. 

Indian  reservations,  II,  33,  71,  113,  333. 

Indian  River,  I,  2o7. 

Indians,  subjugation  of,  by  Spanish  in 
Mexico,  I,  6,  28-C9  Spanish  mis- 
sions to,  I,  30-33;  high  qualities  of, 
in  New  Mexico,  I  36;  raids  on 
Spanish  by  Apache-^  and  Utes,  I,  39 ; 
encounters  of  La  Sulle's  force  with,  I, 
72-73 ;  ceremony  of  .smoking  of  the 
calumet,  I,  79 ;  harsh  treatment  of 
neophytes  at  California  mis-sions,  I, 
149-15,'>;  condition  of  mission  In- 
dians on  secularization  of  missions, 
I,  174-176;  wasteful  destruc'ion  of, 
at  period  of  cattle  kings,  I,  187- 
189  {see  Mission  Indians) ;  harsh 
treatment  of   Alaskan,   by    Russians, 

I,  198-200;  efforts  of  Lewis  and 
Clark  to  establish  friendly  relations 
with,  I,  247;  Lewis  and  Clark  among 
the  Shoshoncs,  I,  265-267;  attitude 
of,  toward  small  fur  traders  in  I^ouisi- 
ana  Territory,  I,  289-291 ;  deteriora- 
tion of,  due  to  methods  of  fur  traders 
in  the  north  country,  I,  297 ;  attack 
on  ship  Tonquin  by  Columbia  River 
savages,  I,  311 ;  of  Columbia  an  1 
Willamette  rivers  show  resentment 
toward  white  intruders,  I,  332-333 ; 
influence  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 
over,  I,  338;  hostility  of  the  Plains 
Indians  to  American  traders  and 
trappers,  I,  341-342;  destruction 
of  two  trading  parties  by,  I,  343; 
methods  used  with,  by  Western 
Department  of  American  Fur  Com- 
pany, I,  3.51 ;  treachery  of  the  Coast, 
to  early  white  traders,  I,  220-221 ; 
in  Arkansas,  II,  33-34 ;  cession  of 
territory  between  .Missouri  River 
and  Rocky  Mountains  by,  II,  71 ; 
dangers  from,  on  Santa  F6  trail,  II, 
84-V");  nttiti  ■  of,  toward  American 
traders  on  t  ('olui.il)iu  River,  11, 
126  ;     fine  nr.     itirs  of  the  Flatheads, 

II,  1.33-134;  Methodist,  Presby- 
terian, and  Catholic  missionaries  sent 
!;;.  II.  134  ff. :  deseneration  of,  on 
(•.)lumbia  River,  II,  137-138;  mas- 
Sucre  of  missionaries  by,  II,  148; 
cmpl'vment  of,  at  Sutter's  Fort 
II,   210,  235;    number  in  California 


in  1846,  II,  241 ;  removal  of,  from 
Kansas,  II,  335.  See  alio  names  of 
tribee. 

Indigo,  1.84;  II,  5,  24.  30. 

Intensive  cultivation,  development  of, 
in  California,  II,  305-306. 

Intermittent  fever  among  Indians  along 
Columbia  River,  II,  138. 

Inyo  County,  Cal.,  lead  from,  II,  309. 

Iowa,  opening  up  of,  to  settlement,  II. 
66-67;  organized  as  territory  in 
1838  and  becomes  a  state  in  1846, 
II,  67;    crisis  in,  II,  68-69. 

Irish,  land  grants  to,  in  Texas,  II,  96, 
98,  105;  settlement  of  California  by, 
suggested.  II,  224-225. 

Iron,  at  Cedar  City,  II,  188. 

Iron  Mountam,  II,  51. 

Irrigation,  practised  by  Indians  of  New 
Mexico,  I,  36;  as  practised  in  New 
Mexico  in  1829,  I,  61-62;  by  Spanish 
colonists  in  California,  I,  1.36-137; 
by  Mexicans  in  Sonora,  II,  91 ;  by 
Mormons,  II,  173-174  ;  in  California 
previous  to  1870.  II,  297:  beginning 
of  modern  era  of,  in  California,  II, 
302-303 ;  works  toward  reduction  of 
farm  acreage,  II,  306. 

Irving,  Astoria  by,  cited.  I.  358 ;  II,  161. 

Istiac  Todd,  North  West  Company 
supply  ship,  I,  326,  333. 

Isletta,  II,  244. 

Italians,  ships  of  Spanish  navigated  by, 
I,  3;  among  merchants  trading  with 
California,  I,  186;  number  of,  in 
California  in  1846,  II.  241. 

Iturhide.  Agustin  de,  I,  117;    II,  95. 

Iturrigaray.  viceroy  of  Mexico,  I,  111. 
113. 

Ixavial,  town  of,  II,  8. 


Jackson.Andrew,  1. 110,  112;  11,69.130. 

Jackson,  David  E..  I.  3.56. 

James,  chronicler  of  Long  expedition. 
II,  40. 

Jay's  treaty  of  1794,  I,  285. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  I,  110;  letter  to 
George  Rogers  Clark,  I,  231 ;  favors 
Ledyard's  exploring  plans,  I,  232; 
later  exploring  expeditions  encouraged 
and  supported  by,  I,  234-236. 

Jefferson  River,  I,  264,  265,  200,  279. 

Jenny,  American  schooner.  I,  219. 

Jerked  meat,  I,  45,  245,  262. 

Jesuits,  missions  founded  by,  in  Lower 
California,  I,  30;  in  Michigan  and 
Minnesota,  I,  222;  missions  of,  to 
Flsthesvl  Indians,  H,  140-147. 

Jewitt,  J.  R..  I,  221 ;  Narratire  of,  I,  277. 

John  D!>y  River,  1,  .340. 

Johnson,  Andrew.  II,  362. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  quoted,  II,  363. 


432 


INDEX 


Jnhnson,  Oonoral.  in  command  against 

Mnmions,  II,  I(»l. 
.l..hnH.)ri's  I'liss,  II,  2:iO. 
Joint    C)<riip;ilion    treaty.    I,    332;     II, 

11.3.  110,  UiO,  Ifil. 
Joint  lii-xiliitiDii  for  annexation  of  Texas, 

II,  .)3(i. 
Joliel,  I.oiiis,  I,  fiS. 
Jnni-s,  Williani  Carey,  II,  240. 
JoM  |)li.  Mt.,  I.  3.VI. 
J'niicl.  lieutenant  of  La  Salle,  I,  72.  73, 

7t.  7i)-S0. 
Jii:iM  .!(■  Fuc-a  Stiaif,  I.  7.  200.  200,  210; 

(■x|ilor:ition    of,    by    Boston    ships,    I, 

■Ji  I,  2ir.. 

Juhtli  l4:..-iii.  I.  31 1. 

K 

KMn:ik:is,  in  California  during  gold  '. 
er:ize,  II,  2ii-'.  -'^-',  2S3,  31li.  317.         ] 

K.Mi-iMi.  ri'iiirjval  of  ImiiuiH  and  o|K'n-  i 
i:m  of  tor  ^4.tt|ptnent.  II,  .33."i ;  strui;-  ' 
ltIi'  bctwi'iTi  :i!i(i-  and  pro-.ilavcry 
iriliri>:.ts  in,  II.  3).">-347;  the  Waka- 
ru-^:!  \V;ir.  II.  317  IT.  ;  rapid  develo|i- 
ii;i  nt  ul,  under  free  labor  system,  11, 
.3.">1  3'i2;  advantages  of  transeon- 
tiiiental  railway  to.  II,  3.50, 

Kansas  City,  II,  337,  3n-342. 

K.ansiis  Cnisa.le,  tlie,  II,  .331)  ff. 

Kiti^is  In  Inns,  I,  217:    II.  71. 

K:i:i<is  1.1'anne  i>(  Cineinnati.  II.  3.30. 

Kan-as-Nebr.i'ka  Hill.  II,  334-33.'). 

Knn.^r'  Hf'T.  I.  211);  fur  trade  along 
tl!  '.  1.  -'^  t  J'.tO;  fertility  of  valley  of, 
II    3tt 

K  .  ^i-kia.  I.  '10;    II.  7.1. 

K:iw  Iii.iiaiH.  I,  217. 

Kaw  Kiwr,  II.  :V.i^.  341.  343. 

Keiirmx.  (ii'MTal.  leads  \nieriean  army 
I..  .Suit  1  Vf:  II.  212  213;  defeat  of, 
,1  .-^oi  I'.i-nial.  II.  217. 

Kell.  i,  Hall  .1  II.  lit;  organizes 
AiiiiTi'vin  .<.Mirtv  for  Seltli'nient  of 
Or.-.n,  II.  ll.'i;  .\t'Vii,il  nf  the 
().i.,,i  Ks)"-lil\nn  by,  II,  ll."i,  111); 
letter  ol  Wyelli's  lo,  on  emigration 
todr.'oii.  II,  121-12.'):  adventiiri'S 
of.  on  111)1  Ironi  SI,  Louis  to  Columbia 

Kurr      .,1      Mex II,      127    i:il»; 

W'/'ie/r  to  Congress  by,  inveighing 
ai'Mii^i  Hudson's  May  Coni|iany,  II, 
IJ'i  I  i:);  \isi.)niry  proji'ets  of,  rela- 
ii,(.  Ill  i|i.\i.|Mjiiiieii»  of  Oregon,  II. 
I  ;l  I  !t:  (;,Hir'rphyr.,l  Shirk  ../■ 
Il.jnii  In,  II.  M2  ,  Lee's  mention  of, 
II.  l:i'l  llll;  iiiinlinni'il,  il.  Iii2: 
.l''iiis  ..I  rail«!i\  ,'irross  the  Uoiky 
M     r,i  1. 11-,  II.  :i.'i3, 

K.  !l.     .  Williatn,  iiuole.l,  II,  2r.'l. 

Kci.lM.i,.  <  :it.i:iin  ,lolin,  1.  21.'  211; 
\ni.  11.  11  till''  lo  (Iregiin  country 
liasi  I  ..11  disi  lAeriea  of,  11,  114. 


Kentuekians  in  Lewis  and  Clark  ex- 
pedition, I,  238. 

Kentueky,  pioneers  from,  iu  the  Illinois 
country,  II,  .5,  29;  in  Misaouri,  II, 
40;  Texas  compared  with,  for  farm- 
ing, II.  103;  emigrants  from,  to  Ore- 
gon, II,  l.')7;  horses  from,  intro- 
duced into  California,  II,  293. 

Kern  County,  California,  II,  29.5. 

Kern  Lake,  salt  produced  at,  II,  311. 

Kern  River.  II.  266,  273. 

Kiamesha.  II,  2.5. 

King,  Butler.  II.  268,  270,  281. 

King  George's  Sound,  I,  208. 

King  George's  Sound  Company,  I, 
200. 

Kino,  Jesuit  missionary,  I,  30. 

Kiowa  Indians.  II.  66. 

Kite  Indians.  I,  247. 

Klaekatuck  Indians,  I,  335. 

Klamath  Lake,  II.  246. 

Klamath  River.  I.  340;    II,  266,  273. 

Knox,  -Vttorney  General,  I,  234. 

Kodiak,   Russian  fur  traders  at,  I,  100. 

Kolosh  Indians.  I,  2(K), 

Kooskooskee  River,  I,  268,  269,  27,S; 
II.  .'i.53. 

Kootenay  Indians,  I,  31.5. 

Kotjebue.  Russian  exnlorer,  at  Dolores 
mission,  I,  1,53-154. 

Krusenstern,  Count,  I,  1.53 :  visit  to 
San  Francisco  Bay  in  IHOTi,  I,  15.S; 
cruise  of,  to  Alaska  in  the  Neva,  I,  2(Kt. 


Ln  Belle.  La  Salle's  ship,  I,  71,  72,  74, 

7.5,  05. 
LabontC.  Ixmis.  II.  151. 
Labor,  n'sulls  of  the  rnromienda  on  the 

Indians,    I,   2H  '20;    conditions  as  to, 

in  California  in   1S40  and  afterward, 

II.    314-.il7;     effect    of    Chines.',    II, 

317-;flO.      See  Wages. 
LaUtr.  two  hundred  acres,  II,  96, 
La  Californie,  ein'gration  company,  II, 

26.'!, 
/,'.4im(ifci<,    La   Salle's  ship,    I,    71,    72, 

74.  0,5. 
La  Charette,  I,  2H1. 
Lacle<le,    French  merchant.   I.  .89-02. 
Lac  Moir.  II,  10, 
/,ii(/,i/     W'lfhinQlim.    American    ship    on 

Pacific  const,  I.  210-215. 
Lafa\etle    Kiiiigration  .Society.    II,   311 
Lafitte.  French  pirate  in  ' iulf  of  .Vlexn-o 

I.  IK). 
La  Jeuiiesse,  fur  trader.  I,  2H6. 
Lake  o(  the  Woods,  I.  221 
1.1  l.aiide,  Creole  trader.  II,  75 
Lallemand,  Ti'Xas  selller.  I.  1  Hi 
La    Mmhi..     Fri'iH-li    iiiiiieiiii    eA|«iI    ir 

Louisian.i.  I.  x'>. 
Land,    variations    iu    price    of,    iu    Sai 


INDEX 


433 


Francisco,  II,  278,  28.5 ;  exhaustion  of, 
in  South  under  slavery,  II,  3.'!1. 

Land  bounties,  as  pay  for  Lewis  and 
Clark's  men,  I,  2'M,  2S2,  in  Texas, 
II,  10.1 ;  in  the  territories,  to  soldiers, 
II,  334. 

Land  companies,  Iowa  Territory,  II, 
6S;   Texas,  II,  108. 

Land  grants,  to  grandees  in  New  .Spain, 
I,  5,  28:  to  s<'ttlers  in  Loui.sianu  un- 
der the  Spanish,  I.  SH-S!t ;  11,  16, 
29,  38,  70;    to  Lewis  and  Clark's  men, 

I,  2.'}8,  282;  to  war  veterans,  in  .Ar- 
kansas, II,  30-31  ;  ThoHKus  H.  Hen- 
ton's  work  to  change  and  improve 
syMem  of,  II,  71-73;  by  .Mi'xiians  to 
settlers  in  Texas,  II,  H4-',I8,  101- 
10();  to  .\merican  settlers  in  Cali- 
fornia, I,  183:  II,  240;  trouble  result- 
ing  from  Sjianjsli,  in  California.  II, 
248-2.'>.j  :  to  transcontinental  railways, 

II,  3.-)l.     300  301;      tiie     Homestead! 
Act.  II,  293,  353,  :i01-3(i,5.  j 

Land   policy   of    Initod   .States  govern    ! 

nient,  II,  72-73.  | 

Land  scrip.  II,  lOj.  108.  | 

Land  speculation,  II,  31,  44-40,  07,  68,  ; 

285.  I 

LangsdorPf,    (luuted    ami    cited,    I,    149,  I 

153,  l.'hS.  199,  201    2112.  j 

Lapage,  roi/ai/i'ur,   I,  257. 
La  I'az,  Spanish  colonics  at,  I,  13,   119. 
La    lY'rou.s4',    on    .Spanish    missions    in 

Califorma.   1,    118,    119-1.50.    1.50.  j 

Lark,    I'acilic    Fur    Company's    supply  ' 

ship,  I,  328,  331.  ; 

I.arkin,  T.  ().,  II.  220.  236.  245;   quoted  ^ 

on    ctTccis    of    fliscDvrry    of    gold    in 

California,  II.  2.56-258  i 

Lu    l{o,|iic     Joseph,    I.    249,    252,    2.5:t.  ' 

325.  326.  [ 

Larpentcur,    Charles,    Furlj^    Yifir.i   itf  n  \ 

Fur   Trtiiler  by,  cited,   I,  ;)71  ;    ski'Ich 

of  career  of.  1.  371    :t74. 
La  Salle,  exploration  of  Mississippi  V:il    ■ 

ley    by,    I,    69-70;     territory    named 

Louisiana   by,   I,   70;    I'xpedilioriH  i,i, 

to  plant  colony  at  mouth  of   MI^.'h- 

slprii,   I,  70  77;    fate  nf.   1,  77-s|.         | 
Las  Casilas  I'ass.  I,  122 
Las   Manpiisas  land  grant   to  Kr<^inont. 

11.268 
La-tsiTi's    Meadows  route   to   California,! 

II.  2(4.  I  l.iiil 

Liisuen.   Frami^can  missionary  in  C»li-  I  I.iiil 

forma,  I,  151.  |  |.,tt| 

Law,  George,  il.  262  l.ivcrm 

Law,    .l<)hn,    ■■  .\lissmsip[>i    .Scheme"    of,  tion.  II 

I,  82,  87. 
I.awrctiee,  .\nios  A.,  II,  3(6 
Lawrence,  Kas  ,  II,  ;(;(8,  3t.'(,  348, 

i ;.  Lrtie,  i,  2>i4.  • 

Lead,  in  Louisiana  Tirrilory.  miiii'ij  by  i 
French,  I,  .86;    found  in   Misxiuri,  I,  i 

VOL.  II  — 2  r 


244,    3.50;     II,    5.    51;     mining    and 

smi'lting  of,   II,  52-.53 ;    manufacture 

of,  into  shot,  II,  53-55 ;   in  California, 

II,  309. 
Leavenworth,  Colonel,  I,  343. 
Lca\enwortli,  Kas.,  II,  342. 
Lecuyer,    Missouri    Hiver    explorer,    I, 

235. 
Ledyard,  John.  C,,nf:\i  Lnst  Voyage  by, 

I,    211;     exploring    ambitions    of,    I, 

231-234. 
Lee,    Daniel,    II,    128,    I:i5.    1.55;     Ten 

Year.-<  by,  nuoteil,  II,  His,  i:i9-140. 
Lee,  Jason,  II,  128.  135,  155;  Dr.  White's 

views  of,    II,    110;  letter  addressed  to 

House  Committee  by,  rpiutc.d,  II,  141. 
Leech  Lake,  I.  286  2S7. 
Li'   Jdly,    vessel    in    La    Salle's    fleet,    I, 

71,  72,  73. 
Lelia    HyrJ,    .American    vessel     roughly 

treated  at  .San  Diegcj  (1803),  I,  159- 

100. 
L<>  Mine  Hiver,  II,  ;{7. 
Lemhi  Creek,  I,  265. 
Lemhi  Pass.  I.  265,  267. 
Lev.'es.  of  Mississippi  Hiver.  II,  20-21; 

along  California  rivers.  II,  298. 
Lewis.    Meriwether,    overland   exjiloring 

expedition  to  ihi'  Cnlumbia  Hiver  an<l 

I'.icilic  Coii.st  headed  by,  I.  235-282; 

sulisei|uent  career  of,  I,  2s2 -28.{. 
Lewis  ami  Clark,  expedilmn  of,  I,  2:|5- 

2.S2;     publicatiun   nf  .hmrri'ih   of.    II, 

111;      Sunifcui/     Sl<ih  tnrnt     c/     /.>ts- 

Itinix  compiled  by.  II.  3.53. 
I.eni.s  Hiver,  I,  265. 
I.inciiln,  .\braham,  11.   197,  351,  :il)5. 
I.ingot    d'Or,    eiiugraliiin    company,    II, 

263, 
I. mil.  .Senator  I.,   F,.  11.   163.    I'il, 
I.ii>toi,  suFKcon  Hith  La  Salle,  i.  70,  77. 
Lipan  .\pache  Indians,  I,  102. 
I  iipiors.    opposition    iif    ,\merican    Fur 

Companj    lu,   I.  :il7;     HiidsoTi's  Hay 

Citnipan.v 's     pnliry     conceriiintf,      II, 

119,   m.inin  and  dearness  of,  among 

Mnrmmis.  ||.  loti.  1!K, 
Lisa,  Maiiiii.|.  I.  290.  ;(();(  :i07:    schemes 

oi.     auiiiist     I'.priiir     Fur     Company 

parlv.  I.  .(Is   319. 
Little  fills.   I.  Js.l 
l.lltle  .M.irillo  Ib.rl.s.   II.  :w. 
I.iiile  Missouri  lliver,  I,  257, 
I'raine.  II.  I.  27. 

Unck,    11,   29, 

.Sioux  U\y  ef .  I,  ,{7.1. 

tncmhcr    nl    W.vetli    expedi- 
120 


LivingsiciM.  Kobrrl   H 
l.l'fH'i.   Muds,  1,-  H„v 

II.    1J6 

/.('('I,"  ,  'iiii'i'in- .   "  stak 

22.   II    "7.  loJ 
Ixjck,  Miclm.l,  1,7. 


I,  91 
t'ompauy  ves8«l, 

d    piams,"   i.  (). 


434 


INDEX 


p*  • 


5 1 


*  !■ 


Lockhart,  saltrmanufacturer,   II,  56^ 

Locusts,  plague  of,  in  Utah,  II,  178-17i». 

Logan,  Benjamin,  II,  89. 

Lolo  Pasa,  I,  268,  279. 

London,  trading  and  mining  companies 

chartered  in,  II,  203. 
Long.  Janici<,  expedition  of,  into  Texas. 

I,  110-117. 
Long,   Major  Stephen  II.,   I,  312-.M.5  j 

steamboats  used  by,  I,  350;  Journal 
of,  cited,  il,  38;  Great  Plains  re- 
ported by,  as  unsuited  to  settlement, 

II,  332. 
Loreto,  monastic  community  at,  I,  119, 

made  capital  of  Lower  California,  I, 
141. 
Lnrwl.  Slacum's  ship,  II,  HO. 
Los  Angeiea,  founding  of  Spanish  colony 
at,  I,  137-13>'-  insurrections  against 
Mexican  gov  .nicnt  at,  I,  171  ;  first 
commercial  neyard  at,  II.  213; 
commerce  at,  in  hands  ot  others  than 
Spanish,  II,  220;  pools  of  asphalt  at, 
II,  220,  280 ;  cultivation  of  craped 
about,  II,  304 ;  salt  works  at,  II, 
311.  , 

Loui.-iana  Territory,  discovery  and 
naming  of,  I.  00-70;  La  Salle's  ill- 
fated  attempts  to  cxiilore  and  col<>- 
niie,  I,  70-81  ;  later  French  expedi- 
tions to  and  settleiiieiits  in,  1.  81  IT.; 
cotton,  silk,  niiiizc',  and  other  indus- 
tries introduced  into.  I,  84-86;  ces- 
Hi.iu  of,  to  Spiiiii,  I,  88;  French  vil- 
lages or  communes  in.  I,  '.M)-01  ; 
slight  development  of,  under  Spanish 
dominion,  I,  92-93;  throttling  of 
America.i  trade  at  New  Orleans,  I, 
93;  rcMtoratmn  of,  to  France  and 
arquisition  by  Initc-d  Stales,  I,  94  ; 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  exploring  ex- 
pediliuri,  I,  2.iO,  210  If.;  formal 
transfer  of  fpiHT  Louisiana  to  Inited 
Sl;ite-.  (IS(ll).  1  2MI211;  lio.sitKin 
of  the  fur  trade  and  tr.'i.lirs  in,  iiivlcr 

Spani,-h  r/>giiiie,  I.  2V'    "M  :    n. ■<■< 

of,    in    furs.    1,    ;t00-;)01  ;     pop'iL.l  ion 
and   resowrifs  of,   at  litne  o(  aciim-i- 
tifin  by  Initid  States,  II,  3  ff. 
Louisiana,  state  o(.  pruportiiiii  of  colon^d 
to   white   population   in,   in    1  "<')!).    II. 
324;    disadvantages  of  ^l!lve^y  tn    II, 
32.'>-32.S;     wastelul    methods   of    rais- 
ing cotton  in.  II,    120, 
Luner,  fn*  trapper.  II.  1.'"1. 
l.uniliering,  (  uiiforiiia.  II.  309. 
1, Upton,  post  trader,  1,  ;t7l. 
LyUa,  Boston  ship  in  Columbia  Uiver. 
I,  277, 


M 

McCr»ckcn,  North  West  Coinpan.x , 

cial  I,  2,')1. 
McUougul,  guiile  to  Caliturnia,  II, 


oOi- 


McDougall,  Duncan,  I,  309,  312,  314, 

31.i,  324,  32.';,  329,  333. 
McGiUis,  Hugh.  I,  286-287. 
M'Gillivray,  William,  I,  314. 
McGloin,  settler  in  Texas,  II,  98. 
McKay,    Alexander,    I,   309,   310,   311 

330;    II,  149. 
.Mackay,  James,  I,  235;    II,   135,   143, 

210. 
Mackenzie,  Alexander,  explorations  by, 
I,     229-2.30;       transcontinental     fur 
trade  projected  by,  I,  295. 
Mackenzie,  Charles,  quoted,  I,  252. 
Mackenzie,   Donald,    I,   316,   324,   329, 

334. 
Mackenzie.  Kenneth,  I,  349,  353,  371. 
Mackinac.  I,  288. 
Mackinaw  boats,  I,  302. 
Mackinaw  Fur  Company,  I.  308. 
McKinney,  Thomas  L.,  I,  340. 
McKnight,  trader.  II,  70,  7S,  92. 
McLellan,    frontiersman    with    W.    P. 

Hunt's  party,  I,  310,  321. 
McLennan,  Donald,  II,  312. 
Mcl.eod,  Hudson's  Bay  Compat!y  trap 

iwr  in  C'lliforma,  II,  143,  20N,  210. 
McLouKhlin.  .)r.  John,  I,  334.  330,  :i38; 
hospitality    of,    to    Jedediidi    Snith's 
party,  I,  301 ;   hospitality  <if,  to  N.  J. 
Wycth,    II,    120;     treatment   of    ILill 
J.Kelley  by.  II,  12s-i:iO;    Sarmtite 
of,  II,  130,  101  ;    welion.e  extended  to 
luissKinaries    by,     II,     '35-136.     Ml: 
conversion    of,     to    Catholicism,     II, 
146;   work  of,  as  a  colonizer,  II,  14H- 
l."il;     wife    of,    II,    119;     encouriw- 
ment    given    by,    to    American    enii- 
gr:ints,  II,  l.")9;    ingratitude  of  mmy 
emigrants    to,     II,     1.W-lfHl;      sum- 
nioned   to   I,ondon   and   resigns   post, 
II.    100-101;    takes  oath   to  support 
provisional     government     e-tablislicd 
by  American  settlers.   II,   103;    lakes 
out  citizenship  iiapers,   II,    UH ;    b  'I 
treatment     of,     by      Anienrims     and 
rnited   States  goviTi.iHi'iit,    II.    I0'>- 
100;    Boston  philanthmpi^'''  in  Km- 
sas  compared  to.  II.  313. 
McMillan,  trading-post  faclor,  I,  315. 
M.'Mullen,  Texas  settler,  U,  98,  105. 
McMullen,    Vii,;iliia    Congressman,    II, 

303. 
McNamara.    siiggesiion    by,    of    Irans- 
firriiig  Irish   peasantry  to  California, 
II,  2-' 1-225. 
M    Tavish,  ,1    C,  .  I.  325,  320. 
Madison,  President.  I,  115,  331. 
Madison  Uiver.  I,  204. 
Miigdalena  Bay,  I,  i). 
Magee    exiwdilion     against    Texas,     I, 

!  1  IMS. 
Maitp.  growth  of  and  trade  in  by  Kreie  li 
ju    I.oui-rin:i.     I.    84-85;      raised    by 
Mormons,  II,   19,1. 


INDEX 


435 


Maklot,  Jean,  II,  53. 

Malarate,  primitive  New  Mexican  spin- 
dle, I,  09,  100. 

Malaria,  in  Texas  lowlands,  II,  102. 

Malnares,   Lieutenant,   I.  4.5,  .'jI-.").'. 

Malheur  and  I'ilt  Kiver  trail,  II,  i^t. 

Malheur  Lake,  I,  •'ilO. 

Malheur  River,  IL  231. 

Mannda,  stud  of  hordes.  11 ,  29.'?. 

Mandan  Indians,  I,  22:5.  221.  2:{.'>,  247, 
280,  281,  290,  ;i07 ;  II,  03;  Lewis 
and  Clark's  force  winter  amoni?  the, 
I,  247-2,5,5. 

Mannanese,  in  Missouri,  II,  .51. 

Manila,  Spanish  government  established 
at.  I,  11. 

Manteca,  butter,  I,  107. 

Manti    II,  188,  200. 

Man  ictures,  pr, wrrihed  by  Spanish  in 
N  World,  I,  4  ;  in  New  Mexico  in 
1812,  I,  .50;  primitive  condition  of, 
in  New  Mexico  in  early  19th  century, 

I,  58-60;  of  early  Mis,souri,  11,  .50; 
at  St.  Louis,  li,  0.5;  beuinninRs  of, 
in  Tex.is,  II,  101;  of  flour,  soap,  and 
woo!  attempted  1)V  Spanish  in  Cali- 
fornia, I,  140;  development  of,  in 
Oregon,  II,  UH  -105  ;  of  the  Mormons, 

II,  180-181;  established  bv  .\meri- 
c  ns  in  Cahfornia,  II,  219-221,  241; 
pressure  of  need  of  articles  and  of  the 
Civil  War  comiH'Is  Californians  to 
enKnge  in,  II,  307-308 ;  varieties  of, 
in  California,  II,  30S-313. 

Marais  des  Cygnes,  I,  299. 

Maramee  River,  II,  .57. 

Maria's  River,  I,  200,  279.  280,  ,349. 

Mariposa  River,  gold  diKRings  on,  II, 
267,  268,  2.83;  Kr/'mont's  floating 
grant  located  on,  II.  208. 

Marmaduke,  Colonel,  II,  79. 

Marquette,  P(!re,  explorations  by,  I,  68. 

Marsh,  Dr.  John,  II,  214;  ranch  of,  in 
the  Great  Valley  of  California,  II, 
214-215;  Lastern  attention  attracted 
to  California  by  letters  of,  II,  228; 
reception  of  Missouri  emigrants  by, 
II,  228-229. 

Marshall,  discoverer  of  gold  in  Cali- 
fornia, II,  2.50. 

Marshall,  Chief  .lustice,  I.  113. 

Martin   Chuzzlewil.    mctiiio-ieil,    II,   31. 

Martin  de  .Aguilar.  nay  of.  I,  II. 

Martiuei,  C'al.,  orange  orcliards  .it, 
II,  303. 

Martinet,  Spanish  explorer    I.  210  211. 

Affiru/.ip  ',  American  ship  :H  Columbia 
Itiver,  II.  120. 

Marwillc.  Cal  ,  II.  292. 

M.'ison,  commisHioncr  of  Kansas  League, 
II.  339  313. 

.Mason,  C.eiHT.al.  II.  205 

Mason,  liovernor,  quoted,  II,  2.5'<, 
259,  260-267. 


Matama,  wholesale  slaughter  of  cattle, 

I,  176. 
Mauvai.ses  Terres,  (Bad  Lands),  II,  41. 
Maxent,  Laclede  4  Co.,  I,  89,  289. 
Maximilien,  Prince  of  Wicd,  I,  3.55,  308. 
May  Darre,   N.  J.  Wveth's  si  pply  ship. 

II,  122-123,  120,  130, 

Meare.    Captain  Robert,  I,  210,  213. 

Meat  packing,  California,   II.  311. 

Medicine  River,  I,  J79. 

.Meek.  Joseph,  I,  151,371. 

Meigs,  Henry.  II,  286. 

Melons,  in  New  Mexico,  I,  90;  in  Loui- 
siana, II,  24;  in  California,  II,  303: 
experiments  in  making  sugar  from,  II, 
313. 

Mendocino,  Cape,  1, 10, 12,  206,  208,  212. 
Mendoza.  Spanish  viceroy,   I,  8,   9-12, 

15  fr. 

Menzies.  Cape,  I,  230. 
Merced   County,   California,   II.   295. 
j  Merced  River,  I,  359. 
I  Merrury,    American    vessel    seized    by 
(      Spanish  in  California,  I,  160. 
i  Meriwether,  Daniel,  II    70. 
I  Meriwether's  Hay,  I,  272. 
i  .Ufsris,  level  anil  elevated  plains,  I.  43. 
Menral,  a  liiiuor  distilled  from  the  cen- 
tury plant.  I,  139. 
Mesquite  Ix^an,  I,  146;   II,  21.5, 
Mes(]uite  grass,  Texns,  II,  102. 
MintiZ'is,   half    breeds   of   Spanish    and 
Indians,  I,  28,  29,  39,  .58.  00,  137,  ir,',. 
Metate.t,  stones  for  grinding  corn,  I,  100, 

149.  1S7. 
Methodi.sts,    hi.story   of    mission    of,    in 
Oregon    country.    II,    134-141;     mil', 
site  at   Willamette   Falls  claimed   by, 
II,  164-105. 
Mrli/.i,    haH-breeds  of   French  and  In- 
dians, II,  29. 
Mexican  Association  of   New  Orleans. 

I,  no. 

Mexican    War,    .Mormon    Battalion    in, 

II,  204-205,  245;  declaration  of  the, 
II.  212. 

-Mexicans,  merchants'  dealings  with,  in 
Santa  ¥(•  trade.  II,  85  .80 ;  land 
grants  to,  in  Texas,  II,  96.  98;  driven 
out  from  California  gold  digguiKs, 
II.  2S2-2.83. 

Mexico,  I'lke's  observations  in.  I,  ,50- 
55;  the  war  fcr  independence.  I,  5S  ; 
inauguration    of    republic    in    (1821), 

I,  117;  jealousy  displayed  by.  aKiiirist 
;\merie:iTis  in  Califnrnia.  II,  217  21*<; 
attempts    of,    to    cnlonite    California, 

II.  218  219;  yields  New  Mexico  lui  I 
California  to  I'nited  States,  II,  241  - 
248. 

Michaux,  Andr/i,  I.  234. 
.  Michillinmckinac,  I,  '.12,  2'22. 
\Iilk   Itiver,  I,  257-2.')8;    II,  M. 
.Miller,  Henry,  11,  292  293. 


436 


INDEX 


> 


n    Ji 


I J 


■1   / 


i  I  II 


,  I  i'v  i  ■ 


MiMor.  Joaquin.  II.  2.58. 

Miller,  Joseph,  I.  SU),  324. 

Miller's  Toint.  II,  31.">. 

Mills.  Robert.  II,  .'i.').*. 

Milncr's  End  oj  Cimlrnversy,  II,  146. 

Mineil  BurKiii,  II.  ,'>1,  5,j. 

Mine  i\  Mnrtiii.  II,  'A. 

Mine  !\  K.)l)in.  II.  .">1. 

Mineral    resourfps.    prodietion    ronrern- 

int?  Ciiiiiornni's,   I,    18.")-lsri;   of  Mis- 

.souri  Territory.  II.  .51-.VJ. 
Mining,     investigation     of    possibilities 

of.   by   Frenrh   in   Mississippi   Valley. 

I,  S.^-.S6;  primitive  methods  of.  in 
California  gohi  diggnms.  II,  2fi:t- 
264;  improved  methods  of,  II,  27!)- 
2S0. 

Mining  elaims.  II.  266-267,  2S1-2S2. 

Mining  rights,  11.  2S1-2S:;. 

Minnesota.   North  West  Fur  Company 

in  possessifin  of,  I,  2S4. 
Minnesota  Uiver,  I,  226. 
Minnetaree    Indians.    I.    2.'..'?,    26."?.    26.5, 

266,  2S0,  2H1,  :il)7. 
Misery  Bottom.  .Mormon  halting-plaee. 

II.  170. 

Missionaries.    Methodist.    Presbyterian, 
and  Catholir,  in  Oregon,  II.  i;}4-MS.  j 
1. ■).-,. 
Mixxionary   11,'rald,   Whitman's   artieles 

in,  II.  l.V"). 
.Mission  Indians,  in  Texas,  I,  00.  101- 
102;  at  California  missions.  I.  110, 
122,  135,  l.-i'.t-ltO,  ll,S-l.-)6.  173, 
174-176;  II,  02,  211;  eventual  fate 
of,  I,  1S7  ISO.  .Sfc  uniirr  Missions. 
Mission  Mills,  blankets  m.a<ie  at.  II.  312. 
Missions.  Jesuit  and  Dominiean.  in 
Lower  California.  I.  30;  Franeisenn, 
in  New  Moxieo,  Texas,  and  I'pper 
California.  1,  30;  Franeisran.  in 
Texas.  I.  0.')-OS ;  Franeisran.  in 
fpper  Califiprnla.  I.  110  IT.;  founding 
of  San  ("alios.  San  Juan  Capistrano. 
.San  Gabriel,  S.iii  I.iiis  Obispo,  and 
.San  .\ntonio  de  I'adua.  I.  121; 
others  fniuiileil  in  Calilornia,  I,  12.'>. 
I.'il  ;  iridiislnal  Interests  In  California 
hindered  b.\ ,  I.  1  12;  the  ot.lv  flour- 
ishing enterpri.ses  in  Calilornia.  and 
reasons  f-.i  surces.!.  I.  1  (.'>  il,:  zeal 
of  l-'runtM^i-rtns  In  'rrl.in;:  c-on\rr's  !in<l 
fresh  ...■Id-  ..f  hdior,  I.  I  r.  MS; 
amoni?  the  Moi|ui  and  Yuma  In- 
dians. I,  III!  117;  ii'ost  prolltable 
field  for.  amr.njr  Ccirist  Indians  ol 
California.  I.  M7-UH;  nine  f..unded 
by  Junlpero  Si  rra  almig  ihi'  ('nini'io 
Kr.il.  r.  Hi;    l.'ib.ir  on  farms.  |.   I  |H- 


\\l.     1 

ir  - 

1       trr 

Itllienl 

III      litdian 

lii'uphv  1 

t.  1. 

1 1  '  \:> 

-,  ;      efTert    of 

ri'tiiine. 

on 

1' ll 

limn    :i 

id    eolonna- 

tiiin. 

. 

1."..-.  1 

id           s 

'cutariZfite'M 

ol.      I. 

r . 

ISJ. 

poor 

uueccuu     of 

efforts  to  pmaneipate  mission  In- 
dians. 1,  173;  Governor  Figueroa's 
plan  for  helping  emancipated  neo- 
phytes. I.  174-175;  wealth  of,  in 
18.33.  I,  175-176;  systematie  looting 
of,  upon  secularization,  I,  176-17S; 
ruin  of,  consummated  under  politi- 
cal control,  I,  1(0-183;  of  Jesuits  in 
region  drained  by  St.  Lawrence  River, 
I,  222;  J.  O.  Patties  visit  to  Cali- 
fornia missions,  II,  02-93;  of  Jesuit.s, 
to  Flat'  id  Indians,  II,  1,55. 
Mississippi  River,  called  El  Espiritu 
Santo  'oy  the  Spaniards,  I,  26;  De 
Soto  crosses  the,  I,  26-27;  rumors 
of,  reach  France  (1637,  1670),  I,  67- 
6S;  French  exploration  of,  I,  68-70; 
Radis.son  and  Groseiller's  explora- 
tions lead  them  to.  I.  2'23 ;  Carver's 
theory  concerning,  I,  227,  220; 
Pik"'s  expedition   to   the   sources  of, 

I,  2.S3-2SS;  supreme  importance  of, 
to  people  of  Louisiana,  II,  18-21  ; 
character  of  stream,  II,  lo;   banks  of, 

II,  20;  great  importance  of,  as  means 
of  transportation  for  pioneer  settlers, 
II,  57-.'i8 ;  improvement  of  naviga- 
tion on.  by  Congressional  appropria- 
tion, II,  61  ;  difficulties  of  navigatirm 
of  the  upper  .Mississippi,  II,  61-62. 

Mississippi  Sclieme,  Law's,  I,  82-87. 

Mississippi    Valley,   slaves  in,   in   1850. 
II.  324. 

Missouri  Compromise.  II,  66,  334, 

Missouri  Fur  Company,  I,  .306-307; 
jealousy  of.  displayed  toward  Astor's 
Pacific  Fur  Company,  I,  318;  cfTorts 
of,  to  control  upper  Mis.souri  thwarted 
by  Indians,  I,  344. 
Mis.souri  R.ver,  exploration  of,  by 
Bourgmont,  I,  86 ;  Radisson  and 
Groseiller's  trip  on,  1,223;  La  Veren- 
derye's  expedition  as  i  ir  as.  I,  224; 
projected  but  futile  expeditions  bv 
.Americans  for  exploration  of,  I  231- 
235;  Lewis  and  Clark's  expediiion 
up  the,  I,  241  ff.  ;  description  of. 
I.  215-246;  the  fur  tr.nlers'  IiIk!:- 
w.ay,  I,  24t'>-247;  Great  Falls  of  tlie. 
I.  261  ;  fur  trade  along  the,  under  the 
Spanish.  I.  2H0-291  ;  hostilities  bi- 
Isvcen  .Americans  and  Indians  iii 
(IS15-1SI01.  I,  311-343:  first  steam- 
boats on  upper  waters  and  'iibiitaries 
of.  1,  .'l.Vl ;  sciilers  and  setlieriicnts  mi 
the.    II.    .15   tT,  ;     first    sfeainl".al    on. 

1       II.    3il;     iniprovement    of    navig.ition 

■       on.    M.   61  ,    dilliculties  of  sleaiiilioal 

i       naviKition  on,  II.  62  '^t. 

'.  Mi-.s,iiiri   Territory.    II.   27   IT.;    growlli 

I       III     population     (IHJI).      II.     3S  :t!t; 

j  iinniigration  into  il.  10  »,t ;  hind 
s|K'culation  in.  II.  .U ,  41-46;  calaini- 
lous  etieets  of  e.:  is   of    IMO   in,    II, 


INDEX 


43/ 


45-46;  conditions  of  pioneer  farmer 
in,  desprilwd,  11,  4t>-4S;  wutir- 
transportation  routes  in,  II,  56-58; 
rapidly  growini;  populutiuii  of,  II, 
65;  statehood  ambitions,  11,  Ci-Oti ; 
proportion  of  colored  t'  .vhite  popu- 
lation in  1850,  II,  324. 

Misaourians,  in  the  Willamette  Valley, 
II,  156;  attention  of,  attracted  to 
California,  II,  228;  emigration  of, 
to  California,  II,  228-230,  239-240, 
262;  description  of,  II.  230-231; 
squatters  from,  in  Kansas.  II,  342, 
345;    the  "border  ruf&ans,"  II,  340. 

Mofraa.     See  De  .Mofras. 

Mohave  Indians,  I,  34;   II.  87,  213. 

Molasses,  value  of  annual  export  of, 
from  Louisiana  (1803),  II,  5. 

Monjas,  female  cjuarters.  I,  l.")l. 

Monterey,    discovery    and    naMiint;   of, 

I,  10,  14;  Costanjo  at.  I,  123;  Car- 
mel  mission  at,  I,  148,  l.")2;  cu-'lcjiii- 
house  o[)ened  by  .Mexican  novrrnor 
at,  I,  163;  mercantile  house  i;piiiiil 
at,  by  Boston  firm,  I,  Ui;i ;  use  of,  1).\ 
Mexico  as  a  penal  colony,  I,  l(i',>- 
170;  insurrections  against  Me.vican 
government  at,  I,  171  ;  foreign  popula- 
tion of,  in  1841,  II,  210;  American 
flag  raised  at.  II,  247. 

Monteiuma,  I,  ;j. 

Montreal,  rivalry  between  Scotch  mer- 
chants of,  an<l  Hud.Min's  Bay  Com- 
pany. I,  292-293. 

Moquelumne  Uiver.  II,  2t)7. 

Moqui  Indians,  I,  38,  140. 

Moraga,  }os(;  I,  130-131. 

Morfi.     See  De  Morfi. 

Morniim  Diggings,  II.  2,'J9. 

Murmun  ExpDxitnr,  quoleil,  II,  202. 

Mormons,  motives  of,  in  migrating,  II, 
167;  emigration  of,  to  Great  -Salt 
Lake,  II,  168-174;  numbers  of  men, 
women,  children,  and  livestock  in 
"first  emigration."  II,  174;  first 
days  at  Creat  .><alt  I.uke.  II,  17(> 
179;  advantsmes  to.  of  iliscovcry  of 
gold  in  CaliforTua,  II.  l"'.l  Isii. 
manufactures  of,  II,  IsO-  181  ;  sireain 
of  immigrants  to  join,  II,  182-181; 
ailmirable  emigration  system  of,  It. 
183-1S5;  prosijerity  of  in  18.'>0,  11. 
188  189;  conflict  of,  with  Federal 
government,  II,  189-192;  acmunts 
of.    by    army    officers    and    travcllerH. 

II,  192-193;  California  ventures  of, 
U.  2();!-204,  20.V206;  battalion  .if. 
in  Mexican  War,  II,  201  20.'),  2|.">; 
comparison  of  emigrants  to  Kansas 
and,  II,  3)3;  appriciation  by.  of 
benehts  from  tram  untinental  rail- 
way, ii,  .too. 

Morris.  RoIhti.  I.  232. 
Morrison,  William,  II,  75. 


Morse.    ConRressman,   quoted,    II,   302. 

Mos(|uitoes,  Captain  Ciarivs  account  of, 
',  24.-.. 

Mulberry  trees,  Missouri,  I,  244;  Cali- 
fornia, II,  oOt. 

Mules,  in  California,  II,  293. 

Mullan,  I.i,'Utenant.  11.  3,1S. 

.Multnomah  Iiidiim^.  II,   138. 

Multnomah  Kiver  (Willamette),  I, 
277-278. 

Murderers'  Hay.  I.  213. 

Muscoso,  .S|ianisli  explorer,  I,  27. 

Muskrat  skins,  1.  :i08. 

Mussel  Shell  Creek,  1,  2.".7. 


N 


103,  107,  111,   113, 


Nacogdoches,  I,  9 

lit),  117:    II.  '.ts. 
NadoWK  River.  I.  ;il7. 
Napa  Vallev,  11.  211.  230. 
\:i.sliville,  .\Io,.  II,  3S. 
Natclu'z,  as  a  cotton  market,  H.  21. 
Nati-liiloches,    I,  .SO,   9«,    102.    107.   Ill, 
j       112,  115;    early  contrail. uid   tr.ide  at. 

I.  MTt;  Kovernimnt  Ir  idimr  stalioii  at, 
i  1,290;  rnnchai,  II,4,>;  1  )r.  Silij.y's 
I  dcsi'riplion  of,  II,  1 1  ;  trade  from,  and 
j       character  as  a  frnntier  *o\vn,  II,  2.'>. 

N'atchitoilies  Trace.  II.  O.^i. 

National    I'ost    Uoail,    opening    of    the, 

II,  00-07. 

Naturalizaliiin  li  w  of  1h2S  enacted  by 

.Mexico,  II,  217. 
"  Naudoweses  of  the  I'lains."  Carver's, 

I.  220. 
Nauvoo,  .Mormons  at.  U,  107-108. 
Navajo  blankets,  1,11. 
Navajo  Indians,  II,  242. 
Naval  stores,  I,  70.  87. 
Navigation  .\ct,  Mrxi.-in.  I.  107-108. 
j  .Nebraska,   II,  333-331;    a.lvantanes  to, 
I       of  transcont  .lental   railway,    II,   35't. 
j  Nelson  Hiver,  I.  293. 
i  Neophytes,    Indian,    at    ( 'alifurnia    niis- 
j       sions,  I,  119.  122.  l.l'i.   l:!,i    140.  lls- 
l.lil,    17.3.    171-170.     \  iriiiiati.iti    of, 
by  .1.  <>.    I'attie.   11.  92;     nun.luT  of, 
reiiiaininir  in  California  as  "douiesti- 
cafctl  Indians"  in  1810,  11,  211.     .See 
wie/i  r  Missjciiis. 
Neutral  (irouml.  111.,  1,  112.  111. 
.N.ulral    (irouii'l    < 'oiivenlion.     the,     I, 

112   113. 
Neutral  po-t.  N.i.itka.  I.  211. 
Vfi.j,  Kru-si-nsO-rn's  shiii.  I,  2IH(. 
Nevaila.  mining  in  (Is.V.li.  11.  287. 
N;w   \l!ii,)n.  I,  12. 
New  .\lina«l'ii.  II.  2VI. 
.N    V  Archangel,   I.  200.  337. 
.N.'W    l^nglan.t    I'.migraiii     \i.l    S.iciety, 

■  I.  .).(ii.  .t,)s.  .ll.i.  .Il'i. 
■'■  w    laiglali  I.Ts,    im    n.irlluvcst    corist, 
I.  212-21l>,    among  emuT  nils  to  tlie 


438 


INDEX 


*  •' 


I  « 


West,  II,  41 ;  on  slavery  question  in 
Missouri,  II,  65-66;  activities  of,  in 
the  "Kansas  Crusade,"   II,  335-352. 

New  Helvetia,  Sutter's  settlement.   II, 
215,  226,  227,  251,  255. 

New  Madrid,  11.4,28;    description  of 
river  traffic  at,  II,  58-59. 

Newman,  John,  I.  243. 

New  Mexico,  Spanish  exploration  and 
colonisation  of,  I,  30-44  ;  naming  of, 
by  Antonio  Espejo,  I,  31 ;  slight  effect 
of  Spanish  conquest  on  Indians  in. 
1.  36;  good  (lualities  of  Indians  of,  J.  i 
36-37;  Lieutenant  Pike  in,  I,  48-55; 
state  of  manufactures,  commerce, 
and  agriculture  in.  in  1812,  I.  55-06; 
raids  into,  by  western  Indians,  I,  05 ; 
rtsumfi  of  industries  of,  II.  58-60; 
the  Santa  F6  trade.  II,  75-88;  im- 
portance of  information  concerning, 
gained  by  Santa  F«  traders.  II.  88- 
93 ;  condition  of.  at  time  of  Mexican 
War,  II,  242-243;  capitulation  of, 
to  General  Kearney,  II,  243-244 ; 
formal  cession  of,  to  United  States, 

New  Orleans,  settlement  so  named  by 
Bienville,  I,  82-83;  account  of  colony 
at,  I,  83-84;  population  of,  about 
1790,  II,  3;  customs  revenues  at, 
II  14;  description  of,  II,  14-15; 
description  of  in  1822,  by  Timothy 
Flint.  II,  21-24. 
New  Orleans,  early  steamboat,  II,  59- 

60. 
Newspapers,  editorials  in,  in  behalf  of 

"Kansas  Crusade,"  II,  336. 
New  York    'ity,  emigrant  aid  company 

organized  in,  II,  336. 
New  York  Tribune,  quoted,  II,  362. 
Nei  Percys  Indians,   I.  267,  269,  334; 

II,  144. 
Niagara    Falls,    Carver's    visit    to,    I, 

225.  226. 
Nicollet,  Jean,  I,  67. 
Niobrara  River,  I.  235. 
Nitric    acid,    manufacture   of.    in    Cali- 
fornia. II.  309. 
Nina.    Marco    de.    Spanish    friar    and 

explorer.  I.  16-19. 
Nolan.  Philip,  in  Texas,  I,  107. 
Nootka  Convention  of  1790.  I.  211.  210, 

222. 
Nootka  Sound,  discovery  of.  I,  200. 
Norfolk  Sound,  discovery  of.   by    ltu.i- 

sians,  I,  190. 
Northerners,    attempt    to   place    limita- 
tions on  slavery  in  Mis-iouri.  11.  O.'i 
66;    opposition  of,  to  anncxati.m  nt 
Texas.    II,    108;      "migration    of,    to 
Kansas,     ll.     335-34.1 1      vioUii.v     ■>;. 
in  carrying  the   Homestead   Act,   II. 
:,i  1-36.V 
North  I'luttc  River,  I.  356.  362. 


Northwest  America,  the.  I.  213. 
Northwest  coast.  Russian  explorers  and 
adventurers  on.  I,  19:j-20t;    Spanish 
explorations  of,  I,  204-207;    English 
explorers  on,   I,   207-211;     Ameri(:in 
traders  and  explorers  on.  I.  211-2.;i ; 
remains  a  no-man's-land,  I.  221.     See 
Columbia  River  and  Oregon. 
North  West  Company.  I,  229,  251,  2.SI ; 
attempted    regulation    of,    by    Lieu- 
tenant  Pike.    I.    286-287;    continvn-.l 
exploitation  of  fur  trade  of  the  Missis- 
sippi by,  to  1815,  1.  28' ;    origins  of 
the.    I.    292-291;     rapid    growth    in 
extent    and    power    of.    I.    '294-'29.'>; 
important    trading   posts   of.    I,    293; 
in  conflict  with  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany   on    north    and    United    States 
government    on    south.    I.    '205-'2'.it) ; 
faults  and  bad  methods  of.    I.   '2'M- 
297 ;    warfare  of.  with  Hudson's  B;iy 
Company,    ends    in    consolidation    of 
the   two   into   a   new    Hudson's    B:iy 
Company,    I,    297-298;     watch    kept 
on  Astor's  Pacific  Fur  Company  by, 
I,  313-314;     War  of    1812  made   u.se 
of  by,  to  secure  for  itself  Astoria,  I. 
•J25-3'2S;     undistinguished   career   of. 
on  Coluiiiliia  Uivr.  I.  332-334. 
"  Northwest  currency."  I.  294. 
Northwest,  Pa.ssage.    prize    offered    by 
British  government  for  discovery  of, 

I.  229. 
Norwegians,   converts  among,  to   Mor- 
mon faith,  II.  1K6. 

Nueces  River.  II.  98.  102. 

Nuestra  SeQora  de  los  Angeles,  foundiiis 

of  pueblo  of,  I.  137. 
JV'.Viu,  colloquial  Mexican  for  "beaver," 

II,  212. 
Nuttall.    Thomas.    I,    3.55;     cited.    II, 

27-32,   128;    at  Fort  Vancouver,   II, 
128. 

O 


Oahee,     American     ship     at     Columbia 

River  (1829).  II,  12H. 
Oakland.    Cal.,    cotton    factory   at,   11, 

312-313. 
Oats,  in  Missouri,  II,   19;    in  Californui, 

II,  291.  299.  300;    in  Kansas,  II,  34U, 
O'Caiu,  Boston  fur  trailer,  I.  201. 
O'Fallon,   Bciijiinin.   I,  34"),  3."i5. 
Ogdcii,   Peter  Skecue,   I,  339-341,  3.")7 ; 

II.  210. 
Ogdi-i.,     Utah.     II,     203;      meeting     •■( 

Union     Puiific    and    Central     Paclic 

riiilwavs  at.  II    3t)0. 
O-den  Uivcr.  i,  310;    II.  171. 
Oudcn's  Hole,  I,  357. 
wi.i.T    .ir.d    Misaisaippi    Hy  .    .^^'-r-ire 
i       II.  2SIS. 

OhioaiH   <m    the   Missouri.  observnti"iis 
I       oi.  on  slavery,  II,  331. 


.,f 


INDEX 


439 


OkaDagan,  I,  336. 

Okanagan  River,  I,  315. 

Olives,    cultivation    of,    proscribed    by 

Spanish  in  New  World,  I,  4. 
Olive   trees   at   missions   in   California, 

I,  148,  175. 
Olmsted,    Frederick   Law,   observations 
on   slavery   and   conditions  in   South 
quoted,  II,  324-330. 
Omaha,    point   of   departure   of   trans- 
continental railway,  II,  359. 
Otiate,  Don  Juan  de,  I,  31-34. 
Open  port,  Monterey  as  an,  I,  163;   II, 

226. 
Open  ports,  Spanish,  I,  5;   in  California 

(1829),  I,  164. 
Oranges,  in  Louisiana,  II,  24 ;    in  Cali- 
fornia, II,  303. 
Ordway,    liCwis    and    Clark    man,    I, 

239,  280. 
Oregon,  early  reports  of  richness  of,  II, 
113;  hold  kept  on,  by  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  II,  113-114;  attention  of 
Americans  attracted  to,  II,  114  ;  Hall 
J.  Kelley  and  the  American  Society 
for  the  Settlement  of  Oregon  Terri- 
tory, II,  114-118;  N.  J.  Wyeth's 
fruitless  projects  concerning,  II, 
118-125;  Kelley's  adventurous  trip 
to,  II,  127-130;  Methodist,  Presby- 
terian, and  Catholic  missionaries  in, 
II,  134-148;  cattle  brought  into,  from 
California,  II,  140;  coloniiation  of 
Willamette  Valley  by  old  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  men  and  free  trappers, 
II,  149-154 ;  American  emigration 
to,  II,  164-161;  recall  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin  owing  to  his  policy  toward 
emigrants  to,  II,  160-161  ;  Congres- 
sional intervention  in,  II,  181-162; 
provisional  government  organized  for, 
by  American  settlers  (1843),  II,  10,'t; 
number  of  Americans  in,  in  1H4."), 
II,  163 ;  acquisition  of,  by  United 
States,  II,  164 ;  exploitation  of,  by 
Americans,  II,  164-166;  emigrants 
from,  to  California,  II,  232-234.  See 
alto  Columbia  Kiver. 
Oregon  City,  II,  165. 
Oregon  Land  Bill.  II,  165-166. 
Oregon  River,  i,  226,  227. 
Oregon  Trail,  I,  331 ;  II,  154-1,')9;  num- 
bers of  emigrants  on,  from  1842  to 
1845,  II,  163. 
O'Reilly,    Governor,    administration    of 

Louisiana  by,  I,  88-89. 
Osage  Indians,  II,  34;    cession  of  terri- 
tory   by,    to    United    States,    II,    71; 
on  Santa  F6  tra  ,  II,  81. 
Ostige  orange,  the,  II,  339. 
Osage  River,  I.  248.  II.  57;    fur  tragic 

along  the,  I,  289.  290. 
Otler.    American    vessel    visiting    Cftli- 
furuta  ports.  1,  159. 


Otter  skin  trade  with  California  under 
Mexican  rule,  I,  163. 

Otters,  industry  of  catching,  ilcvoloped 
by  Ru.ssians  on  northwest  coast,  I, 
196-202;  in  Bodega  Bay,  I,  202; 
exhaustion  of,  in  Alaskan  and  Califor- 
nian  waters.  I,  2W. 

Ouichita,  French  at,  II,  4. 

"Ouisconsing"  River,  I,  223. 

Overiand   Mail  Comimiiy,   II,  357. 

Owen's  Lake,  II,  2H'^. 

Owens  Peak.  II,  2:!l-2:i2. 

Ox-carts,  New  Mexico.  I,  53.  59-60,  61. 

Oxen,  on  Santa  FC-  trail,  11,84;  in  Cali- 
fornia, 'I,  293. 

Ozark  Indians,  II,  11. 


Pacifi"  Fur  Company,  organized  and 
capitalized  by  J.  .!.  Astor,  I,  3()!(;  ill- 
fated  venture  of,  at  .\atoria,  I,  309- 
332. 

Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  II, 
290. 

Padres,  Mexican  officer,  II.  218. 

Page  <fe  Bacon,  firm  of,  II,  2sO. 

Pah  Ute  Indians,  I,  ,i'i[\  305. 

Palmer,  quoted,  II,  16.'). 

Pambrun,  trader  at  Fort  Walla  Walla, 
II,  144. 

Panii  Indians,  II,  10. 

Panama  Railway,  completion  of,  II, 
290. 

Panama  route  to  California,  II,  262. 

Panics.     See  (^risis. 

Paris,  emigrating  companies  formed  in, 
II,  203. 

Parker,  Siimuci,  II,  112. 

Parker,  Thi'odore.  II.  330. 

Pasture  land,  I,  130,  174. 

Pattie,  J.  O.,  I,  60-61 ;  II,  89-93,  208; 
the  Journal  of  (1831),  II,  93. 

Pattie.  Sylvester.  II.  89-93,  208. 

Pawnee  Indians,  I,  45,  235;  along 
Santa  F(t  Trail.  II,  81. 

Pawnee  Rock,  I,  45. 

Paysan.  town  of.  II,  '206. 

Peace  River,  I,  229. 

Peaches,  in  .Arkansas  Valley,  II,  30; 
in  California,  II.  303. 

Pears,  California,  II,  3U3. 

Pecannorie,  settlement  on  Arkansas 
River,  II,  29  30. 

Pedler,  ship  cliartered  by  Pacific  Fur 
Company,  I,  328. 

Pellon,  Archibald,  I,  322. 

Peltry,  annual  value  of  pro<luctic)n  ac- 
cording to  A<i<)u/i(  ii/  l.iiuismna 
n.Ha'>.l    II    .'=.      S.-^  Kr,r  ?rn-i- 

Pend  d'Oreilles  Indians,  II,  147, 

Peimsylvania  Canal  and  I'Drlage  Hail- 
way,  II,  UU, 


■SR^^:s*:?s:v 


440 


INDEX 


Petiol,  fortress,  I,  33. 

Peonage,  under  Spaniards  in  New  World, 

1,5;  By  stem  of  the  encomienda  leads 

to,  f,  144. 
Perez,  Spanish  explorer,  I,  204. 
Perkins,  Thomas,  11,  139. 
Perpetual    Emigration   Fund,    Hi    lO''. 

200,  201. 
Pests.  .See  Grasshoppers,  Locusts,  Hquir- 

re\s,  etc. 
Petaluma  Valley,  II,  214,  239. 
Peter  the  Great,  Czar,  I,  193. 
Petite  C6te  (St.  Charles),  II,  35-36. 
Petite  Prairie,  II,  4. 
Philip  II  of  Spain,  I,  30,  106. 
Philippine     Islands,     conquest    of,     by 
Spain,  1,11;  Drake's  voya«e  to,  I,  13. 
Pico,    Pio,    I,    179;     as   governor    con- 
summates   destruction    of    Cahfornia 
missions,    I.    183;     favors    American 
settlement  in  California,  II,  240;  flees 
from  California  to  Mexico  on  conquest 
of  country  by  United  States,  II.  247. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  II,  33.5,  345,  346. 
Pierre's  Hole,  I,  362,  363;  II,  120,  146. 
Pike,    Zebulon    M.,    expedition    of,    to 
find  source  of  Red  River,  I.  44-.).t; 
quoted   on   capturing  of   wild  horses 
in  Texas,  I.  103-104 ;   on  revolution- 
ary   spirt    in    Mexico,    I,    lOS-109; 
expedition  of    to  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi,    I,    283-288;     expedition 
to  Santa  F6,  and  publication  of  Jour- 
nal (1806)  and  DUseriation  on  Louisi- 
ana   (1808),    II.    75;     reports    Great 
Plains  to  be  unauited  to  settlement, 
II,  332. 
Pike's  Peak,  discovery  of,  I,  46. 
Pilcher,  Indian  a(?eT;t,  II,  116. 
Pilcher,  Joshua.  I,  343. 
Pima  Indians,  I,  34. 
Pino,  Don  Pedro.  I,  55. 
PiiUms,  pine  nuts,  I,  20. 
I'ioneers,  in  the  Illinois  country,  II,  5. 
2'.t;    in    Missouri    (1836),    II,   40;     in 
Texas,  II,  9l'> 
I'ious    Fund,    mission    cndownicit.    1, 
125;     transference   of,   to   republican 
treasury  (l.S2'.t),  I,  172. 
Pirates,  Mississippi  liiver.  I,  '^2  :  colonics 

of,  on  Gulf  lit  Mexiio,  I,  115-116. 
Pitt  Kivcr,  II,  231. 

Pli.cer  mining,  II,  26:<-2r,4.  ^ 

Plague   on    Pacitic   coast,    II,    123-Ul. 

.See   Smallpox. 
Plan  of  Freedom,  Tliajer's.  II,  336. 
IM.itte  River,  I,  235,  246,  343;    U.  12, 

39,  171. 
Platte  Valley,  II.  340. 
Plough  lands,  I,  133,  134.  136,  174. 
riuai-.   ir.   .\rk.-»ii3:ii  Valicy,   II,  3";    ■■r. 

Calitnrnia,  II,  303. 
Plymniilh  Rnrk.  steamer,  II,  338. 
FobUidor,  liiiieu,  I,  135,  136. 


Point  Conception,  I,  10,  14. 

Point  Couple,  Acadians  at,  II.  4. 

Point  Labadie,  II,  36. 

Point  Labos,  II.  290. 

Police  of  Slaves,  II,  18. 

Polk,  James  K-.  II.  109.  164,  204,  242. 

2*5. 
Pomeroy,  Samuel  C,  II.  337. 
Ponchos,  loose  cloaks  for  horsemen,  1 ,  56. 
Ponchartrain,  Lake,  I,  89. 
Pony  Express,  the,  II,  356. 
Poor     Camp,     Mormon     halting-place, 

II,  170. 
Popular    sovereignty,    in    Kansas,     II, 
335-347 ;   repudiation  of  theory  of,  by 
pro-slavery  interests,  II,  350. 
Porciuncula  River,  I,  122.  137. 
Port  Neuf  River,  II,  135. 
Portage  des  Sioux,  I,  90;   II,  35. 
Portal^,  Spanish  governor  in  Californian 

expedition,  I,  120-124. 
Portilla,  Commissioner,  I,  177. 
Portland,  Captain,  I,  209. 
Portland,  Ore.,  Captain  Clark  at  later 

site  of,  I,  277. 
Portuguese,  ships  of  Spanish  navigated 

by,  I,  3.  9. 
Post   aux   Arkansas,   French   at,   II,   4. 

•See  Arkansas  Post. 
Potatoes,  grown  by  Mormons,  II.  193; 

in  Kansas,  II,  340. 
Potcau  River,  II,  30. 
Pottawatomie  outrages,    II,    348-349. 
Powder  works,  Santa  Crux,  II,  308. 
Prairie  du  Chien,  I,  229,  283,  288;   II, 

63,  215. 
Prairie  fires,  II,  339. 
Prairie  land  along  Arkansas  River,  11, 

27.     See   Great  Plains. 
Prat,  Pedro,  I,  120. 
Pratt.  Orson,  II,  172-173. 
Prattc,  Bernard,  II,  79. 
Pra'te  &  Co.,  firm  of,  I,  348-349. 
Precious  metals,   the  curse  accompany- 
ing discovery  of,  II,  275. 
Preemption  Law,  II,  340,  341.  363. 
Preemption  rights,  II,  31. 
Preeraptiimer's  league,  II,  252. 
I'reHhytiTians,    missionaries   of,    in   the 

Oregon  .ountry.  II,  142-146,  148. 
PrrM'Uns.    s'.^ats  of    govi'rn'nent,    I,  «7, 
OS.'J'J,  103,  105,  117.  121.  .    '  125,  120, 
127,  130,  132.  133,  156,  l.">8,  171. 
Prevost,  J.  P.,  I.  331. 
Prince  of  Wales,  Cape,  I,  209. 
Prince  Rupert's  Laud,  I.  291. 
Propric,  common  field  S.H  aside  for  tlio 

public  sowing,  I.  13('.-137. 
Provo,  town  of,  11.  206. 
I'rovo  Cafton,  II,  203. 
Provo    Manufacturing     Company,    it. 

182. 
Provo  River.  I.  3.')'.t.  _ 

Provost,  Lticuue,  I,  340,  356,  aoS-3i>- 


INDEX 


441 


Pryor,  Lewis  and  Clark  man,  I,  239. 
Public  lands,  government  policy  ad  to, 

II,  71-73. 
Pueblo,  town,  I.  135,  136,  137,  138,  139, 

142,  146,  147. 
Piubio  de  loa  Canoai,  Cabrillo's,  I,  10. 
Pueblo  Indiana,  I,  30-31 ;  II,  243. 
Pueblo    lands,   I,   35,    40,    98,    135-143, 

146-147,  174-183.  184;  II,  250. 
Pueblos  of  Zufii  Indians,  I,  19. 
Puget  Sound,  exploration  of,  by  Captain 

Gray,  I.  215. 
Puget   Sound   Agricultural  Association, 

II,  150. 
Purcell,  Indian  trader,  II,  75. 
Purchas,  Samuel,  I,  8. 


Quapaw  Indians,  II,  33. 
Quarter-section  grants  of  land,  II,  117, 

361-365. 
Quartz  mining,  II,  280. 
Querecho  Indiana,  I,  23.  24. 
Quicksilver,  production  of,  in  California, 

II,  288-289. 
Quicksilver  mining,  II,  279. 
Quindaro,  Kas  ,  II,  349-350. 
Quivira,  I,  22,  33,  34. 

R 

Raccoon,  British  war  vessel  on  Pacific 
coast,  I,  333. 

Race  antagonism  in  New  Orleans 
(1822),  II,  2?. 

Radisson,  Pierre,  explorations  by,  I, 
222-223  ;   Journal  of,  I,  223. 

Rae,  William,  II,  221,  225. 

Railways,  impetus  to  emigration  from 
building  of,  II,  66-67;  transcontinen- 
tal, II,  185,  314,  353,  358-301. 

Rainier,  Mt.,  named  by  Broughton.  I, 
219 :  seen  by  Lewis  and  Cl.ark  party, 
I,  277. 

Raleigh,  Walter,  I,  8. 

Ramon,  Domingo,  I,  £  '. 

Rancherias,  Indian  Settlements  I,  34. 

Rancheros,  ranchmen.  I,  43,  56,  63,  103- 
104,  183-189;  II,  25,  219,  240,  2.W, 
254,  292,  293,  ,'i07 ;  in  early  Texua, 
I,  103-104;  heyday  of,  in  California, 
I,  183-189. 

Ranching,  in  Tf>xas,  II,  103;  in  New 
Mexico,  II,  242. 

Ranchoa,  stock  farms,  I,  39,  63,  140. 

Ranchot  del  Rey,  government  farms,  I, 
140,  157,  ISO,  IHl. 

Rapide,  village  of.  II,  4,  8. 

Raton  Pass,  II,  243. 

Havalli,  Father,  II.  147. 

Rpiil,  equivalent  of  shilling.  I,  43. 

Red  River.  PiicfV  seHfli  f'»r  sMiirre  nf. 
I,  44-55;  French  viIIukim  on,  II. 
4 ;  exploration  of,  by  Dr.  John 
Sibley,  II,  7-11;    expedition  up  the, 


in  1806,  II,  13-14 ;  improvement  of 
navigation  on,  II,  61. 
Red  River  of  the  North,  I,  227,  345; 
struggle  between  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany and  the  North  West  Company 
for  possession  of,  I,  297-298. 
Reducidot,  domesticated  Indians,  1, 101. 

Redwood  trees,  CaUfomia,  I,  185;  II. 
310. 

Reed,  Moses  B.,  I,  243. 

Reed-Donner  company,  tragedy  of  the, 
II,  237. 

Reeder,  Governor,  II,  346. 

Remy,  Jules,  description  of  the  Mormons 
by,  II,  197-199;  description  of  Hum- 
boldt River  route  across  Sierras,  11, 
238-239. 

Renault,  Philip,  1, 85-86. 

Resanoff,  Count  de,  I,  200. 

Resolution,  Cook's  ship,  I,  207,  208. 

Ricara  Indians,  I,  248. 

Rice,  II,  7,  24,  30. 

Richardson,  William  A.,  I,  166;  II,  221. 

Ricos,  rich  men  (New  Mexico),  I,  64. 

Rio  del  Norte,  I,  20,  22. 

Rio  Grande,  I,  145;  II,  102. 

Rio  Grande  Company,  II,  104-105. 

Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  I,  48. 

Rivera  y  Moncada,  I,  126,  132 ;  murder 
of,  I,  146-147. 

Rivers,  barriers  rather  than  highways 
to  the  Spanish,  I,  27  ;  importance  of,  to 
pioneers  aa  a  means  of  transportation, 
II,  57-58. 

Rivet,  Franfois,  II,  151. 

Rivet,  Louis,  I,  276. 

Robidoux,  Santa  F6  trader,  II,  228. 

Robinson,  Alfred.  II.  207. 

Robinson,  Charles,  II,  337,  345,  347, 
348,  349. 

Rochejaune  River,  I,  2.57.  See  Yellow- 
stone River. 

Rocker  mining.  II,  279. 

Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company,  I, 
3.5.5-300:  II,  121;  driven  from  field 
by  .\nierioan  Fur  Company,  I,  364; 
permanent  achievements  of,  in  ex- 
ploring new  country,  I,  365-366. 

Rorky  Mciuntain  House,  post  of  North 
Wt'st  Company,  I,  295. 

Rock>  Mountains,  called  the  "Shining 
Mountains"  by  Indians,  I,  220,  229, 
2;}0;  first  glimpse  of.  by  Meriwether 
Lcwif,  I,  2.")9;  routes  across,  II,  156- 
15S,  3.->0-3,>9. 

Rogers,  Colonei.  I.  227. 

Rogers,  Woodes,  1,  118. 

Rogue  River.  1,  301 ;   II,  232. 

Roosevelt,  Nic^ola9,  II,  .59-60. 

Ropcwalks,  San  Francisco.  II,  309. 

Ros...  K.lwaril,  T,  320. 

Ross.  .Mexamier.  I,  310,  313,  315,  329, 
3:!t :  <|uot('i|  on  rlianccs  of  success  in 
the  fur  trade,  I,  370. 


442 


INDEX 


■:H      1 1 


tr   ■ 


ii ' 


1   hit  ;  I 


m.  & 


1 1 


P  ''!•! 


Rotation  of  crops,  neglect  of,  in  Cali- 
fornia, II.  301,  302. 

Round  Prairie,  II,  203. 

Routes,  opening  of  trans-Alleghany, 
II,  66-67;  to  Oregon,  II,  156-158; 
followed  by  emigrants  to  California, 
II,  229-230,  233-235,  237-239;  of 
overland  stage-coaches,  II,  355-356; 
survey  of,  for  transcontinental  railway, 
II,  356-359. 

Rover,  Boston  ship  to  visit  California 
(1823),  I,  162. 

Ruii,  Augustin,  Franciscan  missionary, 
1,30. 

Russell,  Majors,  and  Waddell,  II, 
355,  357. 

Russian- American  Fur  Company,  I, 
200-204,  337;  exhaustion  of  otters 
causes  withdrawal  of,  I,  204;  II, 
222. 

Russians,  explorations  of,  I,  119,  l'^'!- 
196;  attempts  of,  to  trade  with 
Spanish  at  San  Francisco  Bay 
(1806),  I,  158-159;  wise  treatment  of 
California  Indians  by,  I,  189;  ex- 
ploitation of  fur  trade  by,  I,  196-201 ; 
extend  trade  to  California,  I,  201- 
204 ;  trade  of  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany with,  from  Fort  Vancouver, 
II,  152. 

Rye,  in  Missouri,  II,  49. 

8 


Sacn^iwea,  I,  264,  281. 
Sac       lians,  I,  341. 

Sacraiiiento,    orange    orchards    at,    II, 
303;    subscribes  to  stock   of   Central 
Pacific  Ry.,  II,  360. 
Sacramento    River,   gold    diggings   on, 

II,  258-259. 
Sacramento     Valley,     trading     parties 
sent  to  (1829),  I,  337;    discovery  of 
gold  in,  II,  179. 
Sacred   Heart,   mission  of   the,  among 

CcEur  d'A14ne  Indians,  II,  147. 
Sage-brush,   material  for  honey  in,  II, 

305. 
Sage  Plains,  II,  231. 
St.  Andrf,  village  of,  II,  4,  5. 
St.  Anthony,  Falls  of,  I,  225,  283;    II, 

63. 
St.   Charles,  village  of.   I.  90;    II,  4; 
Lewis    and    Clark    expedition    at.    I, 
242;  as  described  by  Lewis  and  Clark, 
II,  35-36. 
St.  Denis,  Louis  J.,  leads  expedition  into 

Texas,  I,  96. 
Bte.  Genevieve,  settlement  at,  II,  4,  51. 
Si.   Ellrii,   Mt.,  nnrr,^'\  hy  Ruasiana.  I. 
195;     sighted    by    Spanish   exploring 
expedition,  I,  207;    sighted  by  Cap- 
tain Cook,  I,  208. 
St.  Ferdiuand,  village  of,  I,  90. 


St.  Francois,  vessel  in  La  Salle's  fleet, 

I,  71,  9,5. 
St.  Francis  River,  I,  225;   II,  27,  57. 
St.  Helens,   Mt.,  named  by  Broughton, 
I,  219;    sighted  by  Lewis  and  Clark, 
I,  270,  277. 
St.   Ignatius,  mission  of,   among  Pend 

d'Oreilles  Indians,  II,  147. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  II,  215;    mail-coaches 

to  Salt  Lake  from,  II,  355. 
St.  Lawrence  Island,  I,  194. 
St.    Lawrence    River,    Carver's    theory 

concerning  source  of,  I,  227. 
St.  Louis,  founding  of,  I,  89;  growth  of, 
I,  91-92;  ceremony  of  transfer  of 
Upper  Louisiana  to  United  States 
at,  I,  240-241 ;  return  of  Lewis  and 
Clark  to,  I,  281-282;  the  fur  trade 
and  traders  centring  at,  I,  300-307; 
traders  and  trapijers  at,  I,  302-303; 
demoralizing  effect  of  War  of  1812  on 
fur  trade  of,  I,  341 ;  organiiation  of 
Western  Department  of  American 
Fur  Company  to  centre  at,  I,  348-341) ; 
American  Fur  Company  succeed.s  to 
fur  trade  of,  I,  350-355;  population 
of,  in  1799,  II,  5;  first  steamboat 
from  below  to  arrive  at,  II,  62 ; 
growing  importance  of,  as  a  central 
point  of  overland  traffic,  II,  63-03; 
population  of,  in  1820  and  1830,  II, 
64 ;  description  of  the  growing  town, 
II,  64-05;  importance  of  Santa  F6 
trade  to,  II,  82-88;  receiving  station 
at,  for  Kansas  emigrants,  II,  337; 
benefits  to,  of  transcontinental  rail- 
way, II,  359. 
St.  Louis  Bay,  I,  75,  80. 
St.  Mary's,  mission  of,  in  Bitter  Root 

Valley,  II,  147. 
St.  Paul,  ship  in  Behring's  expedition, 

I,  195.  196. 
St.  Peter,  ship  in  Behring's  expedition, 

I,  195,  196. 
St.  Peter's  River,  I,  284. 
St.    Pierre    (the    Minnesota)    River,    I, 

226. 
St.  Xavier's,  Jesuit  mis-nion  station  at, 

I,  222. 
Salcedo,  General,  I,  53-55,  107,  113. 
Salinas  River,  I,  123. 
Salinas  River  placers,  II,  200. 
Saline  Fork  of  Lc  Mine  River,  II,  56. 
Saline  lands,  disposition  of,  by  govern- 
ment, II,  7'2-73. 
Salmon,  in  California,  I,  130 ;    Columbia 
River,    I,   270;     Wyeth's   experience 
in  curing,  II,  123. 
Salmon  River,  I,  268,  279. 
■Salt,    manufacture    of.    on    Red    River, 
I,  87;   U.  10;   in  Missouri,  11,  37  .W, 
5,5-56;  Thomas  H.  Benton's  campaign 
against  monopolies  created  by  Federal 
leases,  II,  73  ;  government  protection 


INDEX 


443 


of    industrj-,    by    import    duties,    II, 
73-74 ;     produced   by   the    Mormons, 
II,  180-1(S1 ;    at  iSiin  Franrispo  Bay, 
II,  280;    in  California.  11,  :ill. 
Salt  Lake.     See  Clroat  .Suit  Lake. 
Salt  Lake  City,  layint;  out  of,  II,  176- 
177;     population    of,    in     1848,     II, 
178;     description    of,    by    a    "forty- 
niner,"      II.       1'.>2-Iil4;       population 
in  1859,   II,  203  ;    mail-coaches  from 
St.  Joseph  to,  II,  3.>J. 
Salt  River,  II,  41,  50. 
Salteo,  Captain.  I.  40. 
Saltpetre,  in  Missouri  Territory,  II,  51. 
Salvatierra,  Jesuit  missionary,  I,  30. 
San  Antonio,  early  Franri.scan  mi-s-sions 
at,   I.    100,   101,   148;    mentioned,    I, 
115;  II,  04,  05. 
San    Anlonio,    vessel    in    Spanish    ex- 
pedition to  California,  I,  121. 
Ean  Antonio  dc  P;iilua  mis.sion,  I,  124. 
San  Antonio  River,  I,  15. 
San  .\ntonio    Road,  II,  05,  97,  328. 
S.an  Hernardino,  II,  206. 
San  Buenaventura,   mis.'iion  of.   I,   148. 
San  Carlos,  ves.sel  in  Spanish  expedition 

to  California,  I,  121,  126. 
San  Carlos  mission.  I.  124,  148. 
San  Diego,  disoover>-  of  harbor  of,  by 
Cabrillo,  I,  0-10;  named  by  Vizcaino, 
I,   14  ;    Spanish  colonizinK  expedition 
ut,  I,  121-122;    mission  of,  founded, 
I,'  148;     Jedediah    Smitli's    trip    to. 
I,  350 :    American  and  Knalisli  mer- 
cantile establishments  at,  II,  220. 
Sandwich  Islands,  discovered  and  named 

by  Captain  Cook.  I,  207. 
Sandy  Lake,  I,  284,  286. 
San  Felipe  de  Austin,  II,  97. 
San  Fernando,  I,  98,  102,  122. 
San  Fernando  de  Taos,  II,  87. 
San  Fernando  River  placers,  II,  266. 
San     Francisco,     name     of     settlement 
ehanfjed     to,     from     Verba     Bucna 
(1847),  II,  270;   growth  in  population 
to    fifty    thousand,    II,    277:     rapid 
advance  of,  II,  277-278;    viewed  as 
the  creation  of  the  gold  craze,  II,  278  ; 
disastrous     effect     on,     of     financial 
depression     following     shrinkage     in 
gold  production,  II.  285-287  ;    bank- 
ruptcies   in,    in    1».>4    and    18.55,    11, 
286-287;    trade  oi)cnini!s  of.  II.  2S0- 
201 ;     development    of    maiiiifacturea 
in,  II.  308.  309.  313;   Inlmr  conditions 
in.    alter    1840,    11,    :!!:>-3Ui;     w:ij:cs 
in,   after    1849,    II,   317;     mail-coach 
line    to,    II,    3.55-356:     subscriptions 
by,  to  stock  of  Central   Pacific  Hy.. 
li,  MM. 
San    Fraiiciseo    Ray,    first,    cxplnratmn 


and  survey  of,  I,  125,  120:  ex- 
ploration of  shores  of.  by  .Niiza,  I, 
130-131;    Vancouver's  admiration  of. 


157-15.S;    \nsits  of  English  and  Rus- 
sians to,  I,   157-159;    first  American 
ves.sels  in,  I,   159-160;    first  whaling 
vessels    in,    I,    105;      Bcechey's     de- 
scription of,  I,  166;    beaver  taken  on 
shores  of,  II,  210;   American  farmers 
settled   about,  in  1845,   II,  239-240; 
reclamation  of  tule  lands  about,    II, 
306 ;  production  of  salt  by  solar  evapo- 
ration on.  II,  311. 
San  Francisco  de   Dolores,  mission  of, 
founded,    I,    148;     plight    of    Indian 
neophytes  at.  in  1705.  I.  151. 
San  Francisco  Solano.  I,  202. 
San  Francis<iuito,  II,  220.  2.-)0. 
San  Gabriel,   mission   of,    I,    124,    148; 
prosperity  and  wealth  of  mission  at, 
in    1833,    I,    176;     Jedediah    Smiths 
trip  to,  I,  359. 
San   Gabriel    Valley,    irrigation    in,    II, 

302-303. 
Sangre  de  Cristo  range,  I,  46,  48. 
Sangre  de  Cristo  Kivcr,  II,  78. 
San  Jacinto,  battle  of,  II,  100. 
San   Joaiiuin   and    Kinu's   River   Canal 
and  Irrigation  Company.  II.  302-303. 
San  Joaquin  River,  I.  125. 
San  Joa<iuin  Valley,  I,  3,-)0:   II,  292. 
j  San  Josf,   foreign  business  men  at,   II, 
I       221. 

i  San  Jos#    dc    Guadalupe,  colony  at,  I, 
I       133;    ill  success  of.  I,  138. 
I  San    Juan    Capistrano,    nii.'^ion    of,    I, 
1       124,  148. 

I  San     Lorenzo    Bay     (Nootka    Sound), 
I,  206. 
San  Lucas,  Cape.  I.  9. 
San  Luis  Obispo,  mission  of.  I.  124,  148; 
ruin  wrought  ut,  upon  secularization 
of  the  missions,  I,  180-181. 
San  Luis  Rey,  prosperity  and  wealth  of 

mission  at,  in  1833,  I,  170. 
San  .Miguel  Island,  I.  10. 
San  Pascual,  defeat  of  General  Kearney 

at,  II,  247. 
San  Patricio,   McMullen's  Irish   polony 

at,  II,  98,  105. 
San    Pe<lro,    defeat    of    Americans    by 

Mexican  force  at.  II.  247. 
San  Pete  Valley.  II,  187. 
San  Rafael,  I.  202. 
San  Roc,  I,  210. 
San  Seba-stian  River,  I,  202. 
Santa  Anna,  General,  II.  88;    mca.sures 
taken    by,    against    American    settlers 
in  Texas.   II,  99;    defeat  of,   at  San 
Jacinto,  II,  100;    prohibits  American 
immigration    to    California,    II,    232; 
attempts    of,     to    exclude     American 
settlers  from  California,  II,  240-241. 
Santa    Rnrhara.    use    of.    by    Mexicans, 
as  a  penal  colony.  I,  169-170  ;  loreign- 
ers  in  control  of  business  at,  II,  220; 
salt  works  a'-,  II,  311. 


irn^ 


♦:;.  * 


m 


I 


'\\t 


1 

i; 


444 


INDEX 


Santa  Barbara  Canal,  I.  10,  14,  122. 

Santa  Barbara  Islands,  II,  212. 

Santa  Catalina,  I,  122. 

Santa  Clara,  mission  of,  I,  148. 

Santa  Clara  River,  I,  122. 

Santa  Clara  Valley,  II,  276. 

Santa  Cru»,  Spanish  colonists  at  (1535), 
I,  9;  early  importance  of,  1,  56: 
powder  works  at,  II,  308;  brick- 
making  at.  II,  30!>-310. 

Santa  F6,  I.  37-38;  annual  caravan 
from,    I,    44;     Pike's   description   of, 

I.  50-51 ;  early  importance  of,  I,  50 ; 
population  in  1812,  I,  56;  fijst 
Americans  to  penetrate  to,  II,  75-70; 
openings  of  trade  to,  by  Americans, 
11,75-76;  opening  of  route  between 
California  and.  II.  211-214. 

Santa  F6  trade,  II,  75-93 ;   profits  from, 

II,  86,  88;  Santa  Anna's  embargo 
on  (1843),  II,  88;  importance  of 
information  about  north  Mexican 
states  gained  by,  II,  88-93. 

Santa  F6  Trail,  march  of  Coronado 
over  route  of,  I,  24  ;  origins  of,  II, 
79-88;  Federal  survey  of,  II,  80; 
danger  from  Indian  attacks,  II,  80- 
82;  description  of  an  expedition 
over,  II,  82-87. 

Santa  Lucia  range,  I,  14. 

Santa  Rita  copper  mines,  II,  90,  92. 

Santa  Rosa,  I,  202. 

Sardines,  so-called,  in  California  rivers, 

I,  130. 

Sarria,  Father,  I,  180. 

Sa.tkat?hewan     River     and     Valley,     I, 

225,  296. 
Sauk  Rapids,  I,  284. 
Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Jesuit  mission  station 

at,  I,  222. 
Sausalito,  port  of,  I,  165. 
Sawmills,  in  Missouri,  II,  .50 ;  in  Oregon, 

II,  104-165;      the     Mormons',     II, 
177-178;      in     California,     II,     309. 

Scandinavians,  converts  to  Mormon- 
ism  found  among,  II,  185,  186; 
emigratior.  of,  to  California  upon  dis- 
coverv  of  gold,  II,  263 ;  as  farmers  in 
the  Far  West,  II,  305. 

Schoolcraft,  quoted,  II,  31-33,  41 ; 
on  waste  of  mineral  resources  of 
Missouri,  II,  52 ;  on  shot-manu- 
facturing process,  II,  53-55'  on  a 
water  route  from  Missouri  to  New 
York,  II.  57 ;  on  the  river  steam- 
boats, II,  60,  61  ;  mentioned.  II,  214. 

Schools,  in  California  under  the  Spanish, 
I,  139;  at  Fort  Vancouver,  I,  338; 
established  by  missionaries  among 
Indians  in  OrcKon  country,  II,  1.36, 
138. 

Scotch,  represented  in  the  fur  trade  by 
the  North  West  Company,  I.  292-298  ; 
land  grants  to,  in  Texas,  II,  96,  98; 


converts    among,    to    the    Mormon 

faith,  II,  185-186. 
Scotch-Irish  i    pioneers,  II,  40-41. 
Scott,  WinfieM,  II,  242. 
Scrofula  among  Indians  along  Columbia 

River.  II,  138. 
Scurvy,    among   Spanish    crews,    I,    14 ; 

sufferings  of  Russian  explorers  from, 

I,  195. 
Sea-beaver.  I,  196. 

Sea-otter,  I,  119,  168,  193-204;   II,  212. 

Secdskeedee  River,  II,  151. 

Sego  lily,  roots  of,  as  food,  II,  179. 

Selkirk,  Lord,  I,  298. 

Scrape.t,  blankets  for  use  as  cloaks,  I, 
,56,  59. 

Soriculture,  an  early  trial  of,  in  Louisi- 
ana Territory,  I,  84;    in  California, 

II,  304. 

Serra,  Father  Junlpero,  I,  120,  121,  124. 

125;    death  of,  I,  147;    plans  of,  for 

Indian   converts   not   carried   out   by 

successors,  I,  154. 
Settlers'  party,  the,  II,  252. 
Seven  Cities  of  Cibola,  I,  15-27. 
Sevier  Lake,  I,  357,  365. 
Sevier  River,  I,  145;   II,  206. 
Seyd,  cited,  II,  286. 
Shaler,  Captain,  I,  160. 
Shannon,  George,  I,  238,  245. 
Shannon,  Governor,  II,  346,  348. 
Sha.sta,  Mt.,  I,  340;   II.  266. 
Sha.'ita  River,  1,  340.  361. 
Shave  rush,  as  fodder,  II,  30. 
Shaw,  William,  quoted,  II,  315,  316. 
Shawnee  Mission,  II,  156. 
Sheep,    rai.ni.ig   of,    in    New   Mexico,   I, 

30,  62  35:    at  missions  i-  ^■■'fornia, 

I,  148,    175-176;     of    the    Mormons, 

II,  193,  193;    progress  in  raising,  in 
California,  II,  296-297. 

Shelikoff,  Russian  fur-trade  exploiter, 
1,200. 

Shelvocke,  George,  I,  118. 

Shepherd,  Cyrus,  II,  128,  135. 

Shields,  John,  I,  239,  2.50,  261. 

"Shining  Mountains,"  the,  I,  226,  229. 
236. 

Shinbuilding,  at  Sitka,  I,  203;  Cali- 
fornia, II,  310-311. 

Shoes,  manufactured  by  the  Mormons, 
11,  180. 

Shoshone  Indians,  I.  263,  264  265-267; 
W.  P.  Hunt's  party  amui,.;  the,  I, 
321-322;  dangers  to  California  emi- 
grants from,  II,  238. 

Shot,  manufacture  of,  II,  53-55. 

Shot-towers,  the  first,  in  Missouri 
Territory,  II,  53-55 ;  starting  of,  in 
California,  II,  309. 

Shreve,  Captain  Henry  M.,  II,  61. 

Shreveport,  II,  8,  61. 

Sibley,  Dr.  John,  quoted,  II,  6-7; 
exploration    of    Red    River    by,    II, 


INDEX 


445 


7-11:    Indian  agent  at  Natchitoches, 

Sierra    Nevada    Mountains,    Jedediah 
Smith  crosses,   I,  359-360;  emigrant 
routef  across,  II,  233-239,  246-247. 
"Silent  tax,"  levied  by  middlemen  on 

gold  miners,  II,  274. 
Silk,  experiment*  in  producing,  I,  84 ; 

II,  304. 
Silver,    reports    of,    at   head    waters   of 
Arkansas  River,  II,  12 ;    in   Missouri 
Territory,      II,      51:       discovery      of 
Comstook  Lode,  II,  f<8. 
Simpson,    Captain,    quoted    and    citeu, 

II,  202-203,  358. 
Simpson,  Sir  Georpe,  I,  Ifio;  quoted 
and  cited,  I,  181-183,  184-185,  IHS- 
189,  370;  II,  221,  222;  criticism  of 
Methodist  missionaries  in  OrcRon 
by,  II,  141-142;  on  McLoughlin's 
scheme  of  colonization  in  the  Wil- 
lamette Valley,  II,  153-154;  urges 
acquisition  of  California  by  the 
British,  II,  223-224;  Voyagf.  Rouiul 
the  World,  by,  II,  224. 
Sinclair,      California       ranchman,      II, 

235,259. 
"Sinks."  the  morasses  of  the  Humboldt 

River,  II,  231,  2.33. 
Sioux   Indians,   the   scourge  of  agricul- 
tural    tribes,     I,     247;      designs    of, 
against  fur  traders,  I,  305. 
Siskiyou  Pass,  I,  361. 
Sitio,  square  league  of  land,  II,  96. 
Sitka,  headquarters  of  Hu-ssian  fur  trade, 
1, 199,  200,  203;  Spanish  explorers  at, 
I,  206;  transference  of  Russians  from 
California  to,  II,  222. 
Skilloot  Indians,  I,  270,  271. 
Slacum,  Lieutenant,  II,  130,  136,  140. 
Slavery,  reduction  of  Indians  to,  by  the 
encomienda,   I,   28;     Indians  in    New 
Mexico    reduced    to,    I,    40-44;     of 
Indians  in  California  under  the  friars, 
I,     148-151     ("•«    Mission    Indians) ; 
reduction    of    Aleutian    Islanders    to, 
by  Russian  fur  adventurers,  I,   198- 
200;     question    of,    in    Missouri,    II, 
65-66;     Senator    Benton's    favorable 
views  concerning,    II,    74;    measures 
pertaining     to,    in    Texas    un<ler    the 
Mexicans,  II,  98.  99 ;    accepted  as  a 
fundamental    institution    in    indepen- 
dent   Texas,    II,    107-108;     excluded 
from   Oregon,    II,    164;     exclusion   of 
from  state  of  California,  II.  247-21S; 
curse  of,   to  states  where  permitted, 
11,  323-331  ;  recognition  by  Southern- 
ers of  defects  of,  and  proposed  solu- 
tion by  obtaining  fresh   territory   to 

,     1    _      I :„*«     IT     'I'iA   .     Qiipation    of 

introducing,  into  the  territories,  II, 
334-335;  emigration  of  promoters 
of,    to    Kansas,   II,    342,    344-315; 


final  exclusion  of,   from  Kansas,   II, 
3.'.0-351. 
Sla.es,  brought  to  Louisiana  from  San 
Domingo   and   Cut)a,    I,    86,    87 ;     in 
St.  Louis,  in  1799,  II,  5;    brought  up 
Red  River  to  exploit  salt  industry,  II, 
10;     white,    in    lodges   of    Comanche 
Indians,    II,    13;     increased     demand 
for,  on    ac(iuisition   of    Louisiana   bv 
I'nited  Slates,  II,  17;    traffic  in,  dur- 
ing last  ten  years  of  Spanish  occupa- 
tion   of    Louisiana.    II,    17-18;     im- 
portation of,  from  Iso:!  to  1809,  II,  l-^ ; 
revolt  of,  ill  1811,  II,  18  ;  numbers  an! 
value    of,    on    Louisiana    plantation:*, 
II,  20;   Timothy  Flint  cited  on  neces- 
sity for,  in  Louisiana  (1823),  II,  24- 
25;    exclusion  of,  in  Louisiana  Terri- 
tory   north    of    thirty-sixth    parallel, 
11,66;    proportion  of,  to  white  popu- 
lation in  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas, 
and     Missouri     {18.50),    II,    324;    ex- 
penses attached  to  maintaining  force 
of,  II,  326-328  ;  fundamental  difBeulty 
with,   their  Uick   of  interest  in  their 
work,  II,  330-331. 
Slidell.John,  II,  245. 
.Sloat,  Admiral,  II,  246-247. 
Slocum,  Lieutenant,  I,  20i. 
Smallpox,  epidemic  of  1838  among  mis- 
sion Indians.   I,    188;    traces  of  epi- 
demic  of   1782   found  by   Lewis   and 
Clark    in    Mandan    Villages,  1,    247; 
epidemics  of,  among  Clatsop  Indians, 
I,    273 ;     among    Western    tribes     in 
1781,     I,     293;      extinction    of     Rod 
River  Indians  by,  II,  13;    reminderii 
of  epidemic  noted  by  N.  J.  Wyeth,  II. 
123-124. 
Smelting  works,  San  Francisco,  II,  308. 
Smet,  Father  de,  I,  372;   II,  146-147. 
Smith,  A.  B.,  I,  374. 
Smith,    Captain,    of    ship    Albatross,    1, 

160. 
Smith,  Jedediah  S.,  I,  3.56,  358,    3.59; 
Western  explorations  of,  I,  359-362; 
account  of  murder  of,  by  Indians.  II, 
81-82;    at  Salt  Lake,  II,  171;    trap- 
ping expedition  of,   in  California,  II, 
208. 
Smith,  Joseph,  II,  168,  197. 
Smith,  Lot,  II,  191. 
Smith,  Stephen.  11,219,  241. 
Smith,    Sublette    &    Jackson,    firm    of, 

II.  213. 
Smithton,  Mo.,  II,  38. 
Smoked  salmon,  I,  267,  312;    II,  US- 
Smoking  the  calumet,  ceremony  of.   I, 

79,  96. 
Snake  (Shoshone)   Indians,  I,  263,  264, 

26.5-267. 
Snake    River,    1,    M»,    260,    3.",    3(ii, 

II,  114,  116.  143,  151. 
Snake  River  Desert.  I.  321;    -1.   156. 


446 


INDEX 


»K 


r 


It  . 


!    ;! 


Snooks  and  Stokes,  Enslish  mercantile 
hoiiio  .It  San  Diego,  II,  220. 

Soda  spriniis,  Utah,  II,  181. 

Sola,  Governor,  I,  160,  161. 

Sombreros,  broad-brimmed  hats,  I,  59. 

Sonoma,  orange  orchards  at,  II,  303 

.Sonora,  American   traders    to,    II, 
description   of,    by   J.   O.    Pattie,     I. 
00-91. 

.Sonora  Fiiss,  II,  22S,  :i.59. 

Souris  River,  I,  224.  373. 

Soutli  .Vmcricans,  expulsion  of,  fro.u 
Culifornia  roM  iliKiiinj;.^.  II.  282-283. 

Soutlierners.  as  pic)iu_'i'r'<,  I'.  5,  29,  40; 
majority  of  settlers  in  Texxs  composed 
of,  II,  107:  in  f:ivor  of  annexins 
Texa.-<.  II.  lOS;  recognition  by,  of 
defects  of  slave  labor,  II,  .331  :  tiieir 
solution,  new  territory  to  take  slaves 
into,  II,  331 ;  in  Kan.i:is.  II.  342,  344- 
34/. 

South  Tuss,  I.  3.'.0,  3112.  3fi.j ;  II,  116; 
description  of,  by   Frf'iiiont,   II,  3.59. 

South  l'l:itte  River.  I.  3.'>7.  374. 

Spalding,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  missionaries 
to  Ort*gon  coimtry,  II,  142,  144. 

Si'.anish,  a  maritime  people,  hut  no* 
navigators,  1,  3;  preference  <>f,  for 
lerni  fi  .nil,  I,  3-4;  short--*,  tilled 
eoiiimercial  i>olicy  of,  I,  4-.>;  pritctire 
of  Rrantinn  ureat  estates  to  grandees, 
i,  .■>;  non-economie  nuality  of  those 
who  miurated  to  .New  Spain.  I,  6;  ex- 
plorations of  Pacilic  coast  by.  I,  7- 
l.'i;  exi)e<litions  into  interior  in 
Bcarcli  o'  Seven  Cities  of  Ciliola,  I. 
I."i-27;  conversion  of  Indians  under- 
taken by  niissiriiiaries,  I,  29-31); 
ahus*^s  practise(i  by.  in  New  Mer.ic(», 

I.  40-t4  ;  cession  i>(  Louisiana  to,  I, 
SM;  «l'e''t  development  of  Louisiana 
under,  1.  92-03;  restore  Louisiana 
to  French,  I,  94;  fail  to  reap  profits 
from  California  triule,  I,  isti;  theirs 
the  pa.si.iral  age  in  California,  I.  IS7  ; 
policy  of,  regarding  the  fur  trade  in 
Louisinni  Territory,  I,  2S!»-29l  ;  anti- 
American  feeling  among,  in  Louisiana, 

II,  16-17;  niimlHT  in  California  in 
1H40.  II.  241;  New  Mexico  and 
California  taken  fro  ii.  II,  241-24H; 
despoliation  of,  in  California,  II,  2i>3~ 
2.'J,->. 

Spanish  Fork.  II.  20.1. 

Spimisli  Illinois.  II.  4. 

Spiiiiisli  Tr^ii'  to  California,  II,  229,  244. 

Sparks,  Captain.  II.  13 

SiM-nr,  Nathan,  II,  2117,  227.  237. 

Specie  Circular,  the,  II.  tiH. 

SlMTiilatioii,  in  Western  lands,  II,  31, 
44-l(V  67.  (\H,:  in  mining  stock,  in 
California,  II.  .301;  iu  wheat  in 
C.ilifurnia.  II    301, 

SlMMice,  Daviil.  II,  220. 


Spice  islands,  I,  8,  9. 

Spokane  House.  I,  295.  315,  325,  336, 
361. 

Spokane  Indians,  II,  133. 

&   -ikane  River,  I,  29,5. 

.-,,    «i^,''   Glaus,  111,313. 

S|>riu,;v:iie,  r;-h  Territory,  II,  203,  206. 

Sii.iashes,  C  iiu  i  nia,  II,  303. 
•qintter,.  m  \rkan8a8,  II,  29;  in 
Ml  spiiri.  r,  39-40;  looting  of  F'ort 
Vani  ou'-er  '>y,  II.  "'6  ;  from  Missouri, 
=,-tt'  t.ortli  ,)i  Saj  Fraii'isco  Bay,  II. 
239-210 ,  views  of,  on  l.\nd  grant 
question  in  California,  II,  249-2.')0; 
measures  taken  by,  to  secure  gool 
land,  II.  251-2.">2 ;  from  Missouri  in 
Kansas,  II,  342,  345. 

Squirrels,  aa  a  ijest  to  wheat-growers, 
II,  299. 

Stage-coach  lines,  II,  3.5.5-357. 

Stapes,  manufacture  of,  in  California, 
II,  311. 

■'Stakci  plains,"  I,  6,  22;  II,  97,  102, 
.331. 

Stakes,  Mormon,  II,  1S7-18.S,  203,  200, 

Stanislaus  River.  II.  266,  283. 

Stanislaus  Vallev    II,  228, 

Staasbiiry,     Captain     Howard,     quoted. 

I.  367  ;     expwrience  among  Mormons, 

II,  194-197;    mentioned,  11,359. 
Stations  along  Oregon  Trail    urged   bv 

Dr.  Whitman.  II,  158. 

SteainlMiat,  the  first,  on  the  Mis.soiiri 
River,  II,  39. 

Steamboats,  introduction  of,  into  upper 
Missouri  fur  trade,  I,  .350;  at  New 
Orleans  in  1820,  11,22-23;  .Mississippi 
and  coast  trade  by  means  of,  Ii,  21; 
significance  of,  to  westward  move- 
ment of  population,  II,  .59;  descriii- 
tion  of  the  first,  H,  ,59-60;  char?fs 
for  freight  and  passengers  on.  II, 
60-61 ;  difficulties  of  navigation  on 
upi>er  Mississippi  anil  Missouri  rivers, 
n.  0,  63:  increase  in  tralTic  on,  II, 
63;  establishment  of  regular  line  to 
Fort  .Snelling  (1825).  II,  67;  on  Rio 
Grande,  II,  10-4-105;  on  Missouri 
River  in  18,54,  II,  341  ;  Boynton  and 
Mason's  description,  II,  341. 

Steamships,  l)etwcen  San  Francisco  and 
I'anama,  II,  290;  building  of,  in 
Cilifo,nia.  II,  310. 

Stearns,  Abel,  II,  207.  217,  220, 

.Stillinan,  W.  C,  II,  272. 

Stinkinn  Water,  I,  2til   2ti5, 

.Stockton,  Comniodore,  II,  247. 

iSlorrs,  Augustus.  II,  79,  SO. 

Stuart,  ChpIhiii,  K.iiglish  traveller,  II, 
135. 

Stuart,  David.  I.  300,  315,  323,  329. 

Stuart,  RolHTt,  I.  ;ttm,  ,)4ti. 

Sublette.  Milton  (i.,  I,  ,3ft«4,  3«2,  3tis ; 
II,  120,  121,  122. 


INDEX 


447 


Sublette.  William  L.,  I,  356,  362.  384- 
mr,.  308;    II.  119. 

Sugar,  cultivatira  of,  in  Louisiana,  I, 
89;  in  Texas,  I.  99-100;  II  101; 
value  of  annual  export  of,  from  i  li'i- 
ana  Territory  (1803).  II,  5;  S.jley 
quoted  on  production  of  (1803).  IJ. 
6 ;  production  of.  in  Louisiana 
(1823),  II.  23;  m,ide  from  beets  by 
the  Mormons.  II.  ISl ;  comparative 
advaniagps  of  Cuba  and  Louisiana 
for  production  of.  II.  32.V32fi; 
conditions  relative  to,  in  Louisi- 
ana in  1854,  II,  326. 

Sugar-beets,  raised  by  Mormons,  II, 
181;    in  California,  II,  .303. 

Sugar  Creek,  Mormon  ramp  at,  II,  169. 

Sugar  refining.  Sun   Kraiicisoo,   II.  313. 

Sulphur,  mining  of,  in  California,  II,  .308- 
30'.l. 

Sulphuric  arid,  manufacture  of,  in  Cali- 
fornia, II.  309. 

Sultana,  supply  ship  of  Wyeth'a  Oregon 
expedition.  II.  120. 

Sunol  &  Co..  firm  of,  II,  2,J9. 

Sun  River.  I.  373. 

Suiter,  .loll!.  .\..  II.  20."i;  colony 
started  by,  in  the  Great  Valley.  II. 
21.'J-2Hi ;  p\irrhasos  nii)val>U'  prois-rly 
of  Russian-.'.merican  Kur  Cmupany. 
11.223;  strategic  position  of  fort  of. 
II.  226;  right  of.  to  grant  of  land  dis- 
puted by  squatters,  II,  2.">0,  2."il-2.')2; 
continue.!  farming  after  cold  dis- 
covery, II,  2.'>9;  money  made  by, 
spent  in  defending  title  to  his  land,  11. 
27.5 ;  mi.sfortunes  of  latter  days  of, 
II,  291-292;   mentioned,  II,  299. 

Sutter's  For.,  II,  21.5-216,  223,  233; 
F.^mont  at.  II.  23.'>;  discovery  of 
gold  at.  II.  2.').'>-2.')6 ;  conditions  at. 
after  gold  discovery,  II.  2.'>8. 

Sweet  polat(«'S  in  Louisiana.  II,  24. 

Sweetwater  River.  1.  331. 

Swine,  at  Fort  Vancouver  (1828),  I, 
335. 


Table  Mountain,  11,  206. 

Tin-yards.  i;i  Missouri.  II.  .50. 

Taos,  old-time  Spanish-Indian    n,«rket. 

II,  7.-1,  76,  77,  79. 
Tariff,    protective,    on    salt.    II.    73-74; 

the  Civil  War.  II.  313.    a  protective. 

neces- try    for     profitable     pr'tduction 

of  sail  ill  Louisiana,  II.  .<2.>. 
Tavlor,  Uayard.  II.  272. 
Taylor.  Z.'xchttry.  II,  242, 
Teha  Inilians,  I.  67. 
Tehatchepi  I'ass.  I.  J.59. 
Tcja.-*  iniii.iiis.  i,  9."i.  06. 
Teiujierance  w>eiety.  Oregon.  II.  130. 
Tcnnemee,  ploaeeri  from,  in  the  Illini>is 


country,  II,  5;  in  Missouri,  II,  29, 
38,  40:  emigrants  from,  to  Oregon, 
II,  1.57. 
Texas,  attempts  at  colouiiing,  by  French 
and  by  Spanish,  I,  96  ff. ;  population 
of,  in  1778,  I,  102-103;  the  coming 
of  the  .Vraericans  into,  I,  106  ff. ; 
Philip  Nolan's  unfortunate  expedition 
into,  and  fate  of  survivors,  I,  107-108 ; 
Burr's  projects  in,  I,  109-110,  II,  17; 
General  Wilkinson's  questionable  be- 
havior in  matter  of,  111-114;  Lieu- 
tenant Magee's  expedition,  I,  114- 
11,5;  becomes  a  no  man's  land,  I, 
115-116;    various  expeditions  against, 

I,  110-117;  on  inauguration  of  a 
republic  in  Mexico,  is  united  with 
Coahuila  as  a  federal  state,  I,  117; 
by  treaty  of  1819  United  States 
surrenders  claims  to,  II,  94;  Stephen 
Austin's    land    grant    and    '■olony    in, 

II,  95-96;  grants  to  various  adven- 
turers in,  II,  96-98;  population  in 
KM,  II,  98;  alarm  of  .Mexican  gov- 
ernment excited  anil  restrictions  and 
regulations  made  concerning,  II, 
9S-99;  conflict  between  Americans 
ami  .Mexican  government  in,  II,  9!l; 
iM'coniea  an  independent  state,  II, 
99-100;  Don  Juan  .Mmonte's  re- 
flections concerning,  II,  100-101  ; 
prosiHM'ts  for  emigrants  and  settlers 
in,  in  ranching  and  farminc,  II,  102- 
104  ;  handicap  of  insecure  land  titles, 
II,  101-105;  numerous  difficulties 
of,  as  an  autonomous  government,  II, 
106  107;  slavery  accepted  as  a 
fundamental  institution  in,  II,  107- 
lOS;  anni'.ition  of.  to  I'nited  States. 
II,  lOS-109;  proportion  of  colored 
to  white  poiiulati'in  in  18,50,  11,  324; 
Olinatol's  description  of  the  road  to 
(18.54),  II,  32H;  conditions  in,  in 
1S5»,  II,  ,129-3.30. 

Tha.ver.  Kli,  II.  335,  .336. 

Thirty   Ynirs'   V  Benton's,  II,  74. 

Thnman     I'f  American     ship     at 

Columbia  .  'I,  126. 

Thompson,   i       .,i.  I.  296.  313-314, 
Thompson.  W.addy.  M.  232. 
Thorn,    (^aptain   Jonathan.    I,   309-311. 

3.(0. 
Three  Miittes.  II.  246. 
Three    Forks   of   the    Missouri.    I,    261 ; 

Henry'"  fortilicd   |M)St  at  the,  I,  307; 

iiientioiieil,  I,  ;I44. 
Three  iVaks.  II,  251. 
Three  Telons.  I.  320,  340. 
Tillage  in  California,   II.  297-301 
Tillage    lands,    California    colonies,    I, 

133.  1.36,  171. 

'rititini'*ok  i"i*.v,  i,  "-.*;;». 
TinilMT.  waste  of,  in  Missouri  Territory, 
II,  48,  .50. 


J'' 


448 


INDEX 


'til  ^  V 


IK 


I  ' 


i;t 


'-•!• 


Timm,  Indian  name  for  Great      alls  of  j 

Columbia,  I.  270. 
Timpapago  Indians,  I,  145. 
Tiqu>-    I,  20,  21,  24.  . 

Tobacco,  cultivation  of,  in  New  Mexico, 
I  36  ■  New  Mexico's  exclusive  pnvi- 
lege  of  growing  (1812),  1,  56;  along 
Red  River,  II,  7,  10;  in  Arkansas 
Valley,  II,  30;  in  Missouri,  II,  49; 
in  Texas.  II,  101;  failure  of,  as  a 
California  crop,  II,  305. 
Tonnage   duties   imposed    by    Mexican  , 

government,  I,  166,  167,  168. 
Tonquw.    Pacific    Fur    Company's    ill- 
fated  ship,  I,  309-311,  331. 
Tonti,  Henri  de,  I,  70,  80;    account  of 
agricultural,    mining,    and    industrial  ; 
possibilities     of     Mississippi     Valley 
by,  I,  70;    human  relics  of  expedition 
of,  in  1819,  11.  29. 
Topeka,  Kas..  II,  343;    free-state  con- 
vention at,  II,  347. 
Topeka  Constitution.  II,  347,  348. 
Tortillan,  pancakes,    I,  20,  40. 
Townsend,  J.  K.,  II,  122,  128. 
Trail  Creek,  I,  265. 
Trails.     .See    Oregon    Trail,    Santa    td 

Trail,  etc     Mm  Routes.  1 

Transportation,  necessity  of,  to  pioneer 
industries,  II,  ■'56;  importance  of  | 
rivers  for,  II,  57;  place  occupied  by 
Mississippi  River  as  a  means  of,  11, 
57-.")8;  new  means  of,  for  emi- 
grants by  opening  of  Erie  Canal, 
Pennsylvania  ( 'anal  and  Portage  Rail- 
way Baltimore  and  Ohio  Canal,  and 
Nation.al  Post  Road,  II,  06-67 ;  to  Kan- 
sas, II,  341-342;  transcontinental, 
II,  35.3-361. 
Trappers.  I,  '294,  302-303.  3.52-354,  362. 

36,%  .371;    II,  126,  l.-)0-151. 
Trapping,  first  white  man  to  engage  in, 
in  Missouri  Valley,  I,  257.     See  under 
Fur  trade.  „_„ 

Travellers'  Rest  Creek.  I,  268,  279. 
Treatv  of  C.hent,  I,  .m.  344;    II,  41. 
Treaty  of  Guadaluiie  Hidalgo,  II,  247. 
Treaty  ot  ,Ioint  Occupation,  I,  332;    II, 

11.3.  116,  ItiO.  161. 
Treaty  of  Paris,  I,  202-293. 
Tri  aty  of  San  Ildcfonso,  I.  94. 
Tribal  lntid»,  sale  of,  by  Indians,  II,  71. 
TrinitvU.vcr,  1.116;    11,  102   266,  328. 
Trinitv  River  gi>ld  'liggmgs,  II.  71. 
Trucker   River  route  to  California,   II, 

.iXi-iM.  2:i6,  246.  3,W. 
Trudeau,  I.  H  .  I.  2:r>. 
Trudeau,  Zcnon,  I.  235. 
Tucson,  Ari«..  II,  '244. 
7'u/i-,  uiarnli  Tii'iU.  I.  126.  ^^^ 

reclamation    ol,    II,    306;    utiliiation 
of,  by  Chinese.  II,  31H. 
Tuolumne  River,  !I,  260. 


Turkey  Creek,  II,  84. 

Turnagain  Arm,  I.  209. 

Twisted    Hair,    Chopunnuh    chief,    I, 

269,  270,  278. 
Type  foundries,  California.  II,  309. 
Tyson,    treatise    by.    cited,    II.    270; 

quoted,  II,  291. 


U 


I'garte,  Jesuit  missionary,  I,  30. 
Ulloa,    Francisco    de,    explorations   by, 

1.9. 
Umpqua  Indians,  I,  334,  .361. 
Umpqua  River,  I,  361 ;   II,  127. 
Unalaska,    Russian    fur  traders  at,    I, 

198,  199. 
Union  Fur  Company,  I,  368. 
Vnion  Pacific  Ry.,  II,  185,  314 ;    char- 
tering   of,    II.    353;     connection    of, 
with    Central    Pacific    Ry.,    II,    360; 
cost  of,  and  concessions  to,  II,  360- 
361. 
United  States,  acquisition  of  Louisiana 
Territorv    by,    I,    94;     annexation   of 
Texas,  II,  108-100;   secures  OrcKon, 
II    164  ;    New   Mexico  and  California 
ceded  to,  II,  241-248. 
Utah  Luke,  I,  145.  358.  359,  365;    11, 

173. 
Utah    Territory,    creation    of    (IbSO), 

II,  188. 
Itnh  Vallev.  II,  187. 
Utah  War,  the,  II,  189-192. 


Vac*.     See  Cabeia  de  Vacs. 
Vall^io  family  in  California.  I,  172. 
Valkjo,  C.enernl,  II,  219,  232,  247. 
Vallfjo.  Mariano  C.uadaluiie.   I,    179. 
Vancouver,    Captain    George,    in    C.ili- 
foniia.     I,     142-143,     152.     l.'>7-l.'iH; 
meets   Bodega   y   Quadra  at    Nootka 
Sound,  I,  211 ;   explorations  of  north- 
west coast  by,  I,  210-219. 
Vancouver,  Fort.     See  Fort  Vancouver. 
Vancouver    Island,    called    Washindion 

Island  by  Captain  C.ra>,  1.  215. 
Vancouver,  Point,  I,  219. 
Vanderb'irg,    American    Fur    Compuny 

man,  I.  349,  .•J63. 
Va9iirrn».  herdsmen,  1, 1H7, 188;  II.  -■>■'■ 
j  Vauilreuil.    French   governor  of   I.oumi- 
!       nna,  I.87-K8. 

I  Vegetables,    introduction    of    F.uroi>ear 
into  New  Mexico,  I,  36;    on  mi».'<i"n 
farms  in  California,  I,   14S;    in  Cali- 
fornia, II.  .303. 
Veni~.n,  I.  245.  249,  286,  312,  33i 
Verdigris  River,  11,  70. 
Verenderye,  Varennes  de  l»,  I,  224-225. 
Victoria,  Texaa.  II.  <»• 


^SJv^?> 


INDEX 


449 


Village    lands,    Califoraii    colopios,    I, 

136. 
Villages,  French,  in  Louisiana  Pi    ^ince, 

I,  90-91. 
Vill-lobos,    voyage   of,       >•  conquest   of 

Philippines,  I,  11. 
Vinrennps,  Indiana,  I,  90. 
Vineyards,    Los    Angr     i,  II.  21,'i,  .304; 

of  Dr.  John  Marsh,  'i.  215. 
Virgin  River,  I,  ;!.59.  3fiO. 
VinUador   gen<ral,    inspector    gcticrtvl,    I, 

118,  120,  li!*,  179. 
Viicaino,    colonising    expedition    of,    I, 

13-1.5.  I 

Volunteer  crops,  California,   11,  .300. 
Voi/offeur.i,  French  Caniidiun  boatmen, 

I,  89,  243,  246,  25!,  257,  294  ff. 

W 

Wages,  of  Spanish  soldiers.  I,  13."i;  of 
trappers,  I,  294,  371  ;  in  San  Fran- 
cisco after  1S49,  11,317. 

Wagon,  the  first,  on  the  Oregon  Trail, 

II,  lt2-143. 
Wagon  routes  across  Sierras,   II,   233- 

235.  See  Routes. 
Wagons,  the  first  to  cross  plains  north 
of  Santa  F£  Trail,  I.  3.5S ;  sciirnty 
of  in  New  Mexico,  II,  .59-00;  on 
Santa  F6  Trail,  II,  79-SO,  84,  KC; 
first  caravan  to  cross  Snake  Hivcr 
Desert  to  Walla  W;illa,  II,  1.5(>:  a,- 
rangcment  of,  in  Mormon  encamp- 
ments, II,  172;  manufacture  of.  in 
California,  II,  311. 

Walilatpu  Mission,  the.  II.   142,  144. 

Wakarasa  War,  the.   II,   347-3.52. 

Walker,  C.  M.,  H.  135.  130. 

Walker,  .lo.sepl'.  II,  231. 

Walker,  Rob»       J.,  governor  of  Kansas. 

II,  3.50. 
Walker,  W..\.,  II.  171.  20S, 

Walker,    missionary    to     Ilathead     In- 
dians, II,  U4. 
Walker  River,  II,  22«. 
Walker's  Pass,  I,  .305;    II.  2.32. 
Wallah-wallah  Indiana,  I,  278. 
Walla  Walla  trading  post,  I,  330. 
Wappaloo  Island,  II,  123. 
Waprmtoo  roots  as  fooil  among  C'sop 

Indians,  I,  273,  274. 
Warner,  J.  . I.,  II,  H:',  S7,  212.  213. 
War  of  1812,  I,  2HH;    cIT.Tt  of    on  .1.  .1. 
Astor's    fur-tradina    venture    on    tlir 
Pacific  coast,  I,  32,>- 32H  ;    deii.oraht- 
ing  cffiMl  of,  on  St,   I.o'.iis  fur  tr;id", 
I,  ,341. 
War  Tarifl.  the,  II.  313. 
Wasatch  Range,  H,  3.59. 
Washington,    O.   <^.  eniigr.itit   aid  com- 
pany .-.rganirru  in.  ?!,   '•'•7 
Washington    Island,    Vancmver    Island 
called,  I,  213. 

VOL.  II  —  2  a 


Wi  -ihita  River,  II,  R,  27. 

Water  rights,  California,  II,  279,  306. 

Watson,  .lames.  II.  220. 

Watt,  Jos"')h,  quoted.  II,  159-160. 

Wel.er.  Indian  trader.  II,  274. 

Weber  Canon,  II,  237. 

Weber's  Creek,  II,  2.59. 

Weber  Valley,  II,  1^7. 

Webster,  Daniel,  11,  361. 

Wells     Fargo     Express    Company      II, 

2'.H),  355,  3.5»),  357. 
Western    Engineer,    steamboat,    II,    39, 

62-63. 
Weflern  .WonfWw,  the,  II,  93. 
Weston,  Mo.,  II.  341. 
West|)ort  Landing,  II,  83,  3.55. 
Whaling   supplies,    II,    221;     from   San 
Francisco  Bay,  I,  165,  107;   exported 
from  San  Francisco,  II,  289. 
Wheat,      introduction     of,      into      New 
Mexico,   I,  36;    on  mission  farms  in 
California,   I,   148;    amount  of  crops 
of,    at   California   missions   (1833).    I. 
175,    182;     rapid    diminution    in   pro- 
iluction    of.    under    California    eaille 
kings,    I,    187;     along    >:..-    Arkansns 
River,  II,  25;    in  Missouri,  II,  44.  19; 
in   Texas,    II.    101  ;     raised    by    M"r- 
mons,  II,  193:    in  California,  II,  221, 
'299,  .300;    exportation  of.  to  Kurope, 
II,  .300-301  ;    speculation  in.  II,  301  ; 
deerea.s<!  in   crops  in    California,   duo 
to  land  exhausiion,  II,  301  ;   raised  in 
Kansas,  II,  340. 
White,    Dr.    Elijah,    Ten    Year,   m    ./re- 

0'"i   hy.  quoted,   II,    140-141. 
White  F.nrth  Creek.  1,  204. 
White  River,  II,  27,  29.  31. 
Whittield.   KaiisHS  politician.  II.  346. 
Whitman,    Marcus,     II,     142-145.     l.i., 
1.56-157,    1.5K,    11.1.   331;     murder   of, 
y  Ini'ians,  II.  1 18. 
Whitman.     Priscilla     P.,     It.     142-14.., 

118;    quoted,  II,  15;5-1.50. 
Whitney,     .\sii.     transcontinental     -"il- 

way  promoter,  II,  3,53-3.55. 
Whitnev,  Mt..  II.  206. 
Whitworth.  Richard,  I,  227. 
Wichita  Indians.  I,  21. 
Wj.lc  w  Uentnn's  Sltlement.  II,  09. 
Wild  horsi's,  lapture  of,  I,  1113-104:    on 
C,.liforni:i    ranches,    I,    185:     in    Mis- 
souri  Territory,   II.  .3";   br.'clin:     .f. 
with  higher  strains,  II,  J  '.i- 
VVild  turkeys,  I,  90.  215. 
Wilkis,  Command.r,    I.    188;     II,  226- 

Wilkinson.  Tlenjamin,  I,  .307. 
Wiikiii.si.n.  C.enernl  James.  I,   110,   111- 

114.    11,  17,  90. 
Willamette   Fall-,   mill   site   at,   claim. "I 

by  \!..tho.liM  Mission,  II.  164    lt)5  _ 
Willamette    Missi.iM,    llie,    11.    M"    '■■• 

im.  139. 


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INDEX 


Willamette  River,  I,  276 ;  II,  173 ;   ex- 
plored   by    Captain    Clark,    I,    277- 
278;    explored  by  N.  J.  Wyeth.  II, 
123. 
Willamette  Valley,   coloniiation  of,   by 
ex  Hudson's  Bay  Company  men  and 
free  trappers,  II,  149-154. 
Willow  Creek,  I,  264. 
Wind  River,  I,  320. 
Wind  River  Mountains,  I,  300,  365. 
Windsor  Creek,  I,  259. 
Wine,     produced     at    California    mis- 
sions, I,  183 ;  made  in  Sonora,  II.  91 ; 
development    of    industry    in    Cali- 
fornia by  Frenchman,  II,  220. 
Winnebago  Indians,  I,  228. 
Winnipeg,  Lake,  I,  224. 
Winship,  Captain,  I,  159,  201,  221. 
Winter  Quarters,  Mormons  at,  II,  189, 

170,  179,  183. 
Winters,  the,  land  claimants,  II,  29. 
Wisconsin  River,  I,  223. 
Wisdom  River,  I,  279. 
Wolfskill,  William,  II.  87,  212,  213. 
Wood  River,  I,  238. 
Woodruff, 'first  mate  of  Columbia.  I,  212. 
Wool,   manufacture   of.   by    Indians   in 
New  Mnxiro,  I,  36,  40,  .Sfi ;  production 
of,  in  California,  II,  296-297 :    manu- 
factures of,  in  California,  II,  312. 
Workman-Rowland  party,  11.  231-232. 
Wyandotte  Indians,  II,  333. 
Wveth,  Jacob,  II,  118,  119.  120. 
Wyoth,     Nathaniel     J.,     I,     363,    369; 
Memoir  to  Congress,  quoted,  II,  88, 
125;      projects     of,     concerning     the 
Oregon  country,  II,  118-125;   quoted, 
II,  i;i:»-134.  150. 
Wyllie,  H.  C,  II.  224. 


Yakima  Valley.  I,  334. 

Yamhill  Creek,  II,  136. 

Yankton  Sioux  Indians.  I,  253. 

Yellow  fever,  epidemic  of  1819  in  Now 

Orleans,  II,  21. 
Yellowstone   River.   I.   257,   279.  342; 

II,  121. 
Yellowitone,  steamboat  on   upper   Mis- 
souri, I,  350;   II,  63. 
Yerba   Buena,   early   mercha   .   vesfiU 
in  roadstead  of,   I,    165;     Anicric-n-< 
in    possession    of,    II,    205;     tweat. 
houses   at,    II,    221;    advantages    n-- 
sulting   to,   from  gold   discovery,    11, 
276;    name  of  San  Francisco  adoptnl 
for,  II,  276.     See  San  Francisco. 
York,  body  servant  of  William  Clark.  I, 

238 
Young,  Rrigham,  II,  170,  171,  172,  177. 
178,     180,     186-187,     189,     192,     HU, 
195,  198,  202,  206;   II,  360. 
Young,    Ewing,    II,    87.    127-131, 

140,  211,  219. 
Young's   Bay,   Lewis  and   Clark's 

on,   I,   272-273,   312. 
Yuba  River,  gol<'  diggings  on,  II,  2r>'.K 
Yuma  Indians,  I,  34;   II,  92;   massiicri' 
of  Spanish  in  California  by  (1781),  I, 
146-147. 

Z 
Zacatula,  I,  8. 

Zavalla,  Texas  adventurer,  II,  105. 
Zinc,  in  Missouri  Territory,  II,  51. 
Zufii    Indians,    Spanish    explorers    iinl, 
I,  16-21 ;    remain  independent,  1,  .('<. 
Zufii    route    from    Fort    Smith    to    Kio 
Grande,  II.  358. 


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Economy  in  Harvard  University.     Edited  by  O.  M.  W.  Spragle, 

Assistant  Professor  of  Economics  in  Harvard  University-     With  an 

Introduction  by  F.  W.  Taussig,  Henry  Lee  Professor  of  Economics 

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Principles  of  Economics.     Vol.  I 

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Book    V  —  General  Relations  of  Demand.  Supply,  and  Value. 

Book  VI  —  The  Distribution  of  the  National  Income. 


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Dictionary  of  Political  Economy 

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Introduction  to  Public  Finance 

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